ANALYSIS OF AN INFORMAL WATER EDUCATION PROGRAM DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of Texas State University-San Marcos in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of PHILOSOPHY by Andrew Sansom, B.S. San Marcos, Texas May 2013 ANALYSIS OF AN INFORMAL WATER EDUCATION PROGRAM Committee Members Approved: _____________________________________ Richard Boehm, Chair _____________________________________ Richard Dixon _____________________________________ Denise Blanchard _____________________________________ Walter Rast Approved: _________________________ J. Michael Willoughby Dean of the Graduate College COPYRIGHT by Andrew Sansom 2013 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, Section 107). Consistent with Fair Use as defined in the copyright laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work, I, Andrew Sansom, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational and scholarly purposes only. Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to students and staff of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University-San Marcos They are leading the way in educating our children About Water and Their Future ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many friends, colleagues, professors, and relatives without whom this work would never have occurred. There are so many, in fact, that it is possible that I may have forgotten one or two. Hopefully, I did not but if so, they must know how grateful I am to have had their assistance and that it helped make it possible for me to do this at all. My Committee, Dr. Richard Boehm, Dr. Denise Blanchard, Dr. Richard Dixon, and Dr. Walter Rast were terrific, especially Dr. Boehm. I have compared notes with other graduate students many times during this experience and I have not been told of any Committee Chair who spent as much time with them, who guided, pushed, and prodded them to complete the dissertation as effectively, firmly, and kindly as has Dr. Boehm. At the same time, it is emotionally difficult for me to express my gratitude to all of the staff at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment (The Meadows Center) at Texas State University-San Marcos. Through the whole process of graduate study, from the classroom to the field, to the dissertation itself, they have been completely supportive of my study, in spite of the fact that it has taken valuable time away from my duties at the Center. Ron Coley, Deborah Lane, and Sonja Mlenar made it possible for me to collect large amounts of data from students visiting Aquarena Center and student interpreters on the site facilitated the collection itself. My Committee member, Dr. Richard Dixon, who taught me statistics, is clearly one of the best teachers I have ever had, but I know he would understand that I would never have made it through his course in Applied Nonparametric Statistics without my tutor, Meredith Blount Miller. vi My long-time friend and colleague, Emily Warren helped me in innumerable ways through the process, especially in proofing and refining every aspect of this dissertation. Meredith Blount Miller was right by her side. I received constant support from Synthia Tuma and was helped in many ways along the way by graduate students, Laura Clarke, Anne Ruthstrom, Lindsay Sansom (no relation), and Sarah Edwards. I will always be grateful to Jennifer King and Mary Van Zant for making sure that this work met the standards of the Graduate College at Texas State. Finally, my Assistant, Susan Hankins kept the whole thing moving, juggling my schedule, handling details, and making sure there was always sufficient time in the week dedicating to getting the project completed. My Colleagues, Linda Evans, Bruce Esterline, and Mike McCoy of the Meadows Foundation have consistently supported my efforts and Marylou Hastings of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation provided an indispensable office in Austin where I could work without interruption. Finally, the remarkable woman with whom I have lived for forty-seven years never gave up on me and constantly encouraged me, giving me hope that it would actually be possible for me to get to the finish line. Nona’s presence in my life is surely its greatest gift. She is a master teacher who knows more about education than I ever will and I am blessed beyond measure have her as my partner. This manuscript was submitted on April 4, 2013. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................1 An Urgent Issue .......................................................................................................1 A Record of Achievement .......................................................................................5 A Time of Challenge ................................................................................................8 Signs of Hope, Scenes of Conflict .........................................................................14 Pathways to Sustainability .....................................................................................20 Lighting the Way ...................................................................................................21 II. WATER EDUCATION AT THE MEADOWS CENTER FOR WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................28 A Unique Educational Opportunity ......................................................................28 Barriers to Understanding ......................................................................................33 A Natural Classroom..............................................................................................35 III. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................................43 Organization of the Literature Review ..................................................................43 Environmental Education in the United States ......................................................43 Education for Sustainability ...................................................................................46 Toward Quality Resource Management ................................................................48 Formal and Informal Approaches ..........................................................................49 Water Education – No Child Left Dry ...................................................................50 Water and the State Standards ...............................................................................53 IV. RESEARCH DESIGN ...........................................................................................56 Research Questions ................................................................................................57 Research Methods ..................................................................................................59 PHASE I – Student Evaluation ..............................................................................62 PHASE II – Teacher Evaluation ............................................................................66 viii Inquiry I – Survey Monkey Tool ...............................................................66 Inquiry II – Aquarena Center Field Trip Evaluation .................................66 Inquiry III – In-depth Interviews ...............................................................67 V. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS .................................................................................69 PHASE I – Student Evaluation ..............................................................................69 Principal Messages Questions ....................................................................69 Connections and Perceptions Questions ....................................................80 Experience Questions.................................................................................88 PHASE II – Teacher Evaluation ............................................................................93 Inquiry I – Survey Monkey Tool ...............................................................93 Inquiry II – Aquarena Center Field Trip Evaluation ...............................104 Inquiry III – In-Depth Interviews ............................................................109 Summary of Results .............................................................................................110 VI. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................119 Primary Research Question..................................................................................119 Secondary Research Question ..............................................................................120