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Publication #CIR1528

Measuring the Effectiveness of Lagoon Quest: A Case Study in Environmental Education Program Evaluation1

Judith Chen-Hsuan Cheng, Martha C. Monroe, and Alison Gordon2

This publication is available in pdf format only. Click here to download the pdf.

This document (a 32-page, 4-color pdf on 8.5 x 11 inch paper) is both a report of the evaluation of the second year of implementing Lagoon Quest in Brevard County, Florida and also a case study of program evaluation. The format for the report follows the recommended guidelines in an evaluation workbook, “Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs,” to be published by the North American Association for Environmental Education. Written to accompany professional development training programs, we hope this case study will illustrate the program evaluation process and help extension agents and others improve their educational activities.

Lagoon Quest is a county-wide program for fourth graders that was designed by the Brevard Zoo and implemented with the Brevard Public Schools. The evaluation was developed with support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the University of Florida/IFAS and School of Forest Resources and Conservation.

This report (Circular 1528) includes background information about Lagoon Quest, the logic model, the evaluation plan, the data collection tools (surveys, test of knowledge, focus group, and observation form), data analysis, results, discussion, conclusion, and recommendations. A sample of how program developers are adapting Lagoon Quest to better serve the needs of teachers and youth is included.

Footnotes

1.

This document is CIR1528, one of a series of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date August 2008. Visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Judith Chen-Hsuan Cheng, research assistant, and Martha C. Monroe, professor, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, IFAS. Alison Gordon, Brevard Zoo.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.