Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the UW-SP National Science Foundation Teacher Training Program in Environmental Education

Environmental protection tomorrow will be carried out by students who sit in classrooms across the country today. The teacher is the key in teaching and motivating the students to understand and gain skills to act to better the environment. Training is greatly needed if teachers are to effectively implement the objectives of environmental education (awareness, knowledge, attitudes/values, skills, and participation). Teachers need a strong ecological foundation, training in issue investigation and evaluation, and citizen participation skills, in order to lead students past mere awareness of environmental problems to active resolutions of these problems. Because of the many demands upon a teacher and the importance of environmental education, the most effective teacher training program is crucial. At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, significant efforts have been made to provide teacher training in environmental education. Through the support of the National Science Foundation, four one credit EE courses for teachers have been developed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the UW-SP/NSF teacher training program to assure that it was providing its desired impact