Abstract
The authors assessed the effects of an undergraduate environmental course on students’ environmental action, environmental responsibility, internal locus of control, and environmental hope. This course incorporates issue analysis, life stories, and wilderness education. A nonequivalent control group design was used to collect quantitative data. Forty students received the experimental instruction and the other 43 students received the control instruction. The quantitative data showed that the course did significantly promote the students’ environmental action, internal locus of control, and environmental hope. Semi-structured interviews and document analyses were conducted to determine what aspects of the course caused those changes in students’ environmental responsibility, internal locus of control, negative experiences, and environmental hope. The qualitative data revealed that the awakening of the soul occurred as a consequence of life stories. In addition, life stories and wilderness education fostered the development of students’ responsibility, internal locus of control, and hope. Based on this study, implications for program development and instructional practice were presented.
| Keywords: | life story; wilderness experiences; emotional involvement; environmental literacy; issue analysis |
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