Research Highlights Outdoor Recreation Education

LAS VEGAS -Three UNLV researchers are breaking new ground in environmental education research. Jeanne Klockow, education curriculum coordinator for UNLV’s Public Lands Institute, has joined with Gregory Schraw and Lori Olafson of the College of Education, to develop assessment instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of a federally based recreational education program. The research, “Assessing Discover Mojave: Instrument Development and Analysis,” is gaining regional and international attention from educational researchers.

The research team recently was notified their work has been accepted for presentation at the Conference on Research and Practices in Science Education in Hong Kong December 16-17, 2005. It also will be published in the Teachers’ Handbook after the conference. The study was first presented October 6, 2005, at the 23rd Annual Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association in Jackson, Wyoming.

Klockow, Schraw and Olafson developed an assessment plan to determine whether hands-on outdoor events through informal education promote any changes in the knowledge, attitude, and performance of at-risk urban children. They studied a total of 44 children in Clark County, aged eight to 12, who participated in the Discover Mojave Outdoor World Program’s canoeing, bird watching, art, and fishing activities . The recreation education program is for urban, economically disadvantaged youth and is designed to encourage lifelong recreation on public lands. The program is funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and managed by UNLV’s Public Lands Institute on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.

“This is ‘lived’ research,” explained Klockow. “The research is being produced as the programs are delivered,” she said. “The results are letting us know whether or not we are on the right track with the education-in-the-environment curriculum.”

The study’s findings revealed that knowledge, attitudes, and performance increased substantially as a result of the youths’ participation in the outdoor recreation events.

• 44% of the children had little knowledge prior to the events compared to 78% having more complete knowledge after participating in the events.


• 94% of the participating children demonstrated all performance skills.


• Post-event attitudes were significantly higher than pre-event attitudes, suggesting that participating in the events had a positive impact on the children.

The next phase of the research will study how informal education can affect formal education. Specifically, Klockow, Schraw and Olafson want to see if teachers report student attitudinal changes toward science and if the students’ participation leads to improvement in their science grades.