Validation of an Instrument to Measure the Change in Ecological Vocabulary of Teachers Attending Texas Environmental Education Advisory Committee Endorsed Programs

摘要

An instrument was developed and evaluated for measuring the effect of the Texas Environmental Education Advisory Committee (TEEAC) endorsed teacher inservice programs on participantsu27 ecological vocabulary. Principal study objectives were to establish a basic ecological vocabulary essential to environmental education and evaluate the instrumentu27s effectiveness in measuring change in participantsu27 ecological vocabulary resulting from exposure to TEEAC programs. The Ecological Vocabulary Survey (EVS) was developed from 57 ecological terms. A comparison of EVS terms with terms selected by ecological and environmental education organizations indicated the EVS terms were essential to environmental education. A total of 148 matched pairs of pre and post survey instruments were tested by 9 TEEAC programs during the summer of 1994. Results indicate the EVS was successful in measuring a change in ecological vocabulary, recording a significant increase in correct responses from 65.04% of the pre test to 80.63% of the post test.