Ambient learning displays may be one step toward encouraging environmental learning

As the global climate changes, identifying innovative ways to encourage reducing individual and collective carbon footprints is increasingly important. Previous research indicates increases in environmental learning—which includes environmental knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and concern—lead to pro-environmental behavior change. Studies in other contexts indicate that ambient learning displays may be one way to advance environmental learning in the workplace. Ambient learning displays convey information through non-traditional, mobile methods and aim to increase environmental knowledge and inspire pro-environmental behaviors. For this study, the authors hypothesized that ambient learning displays would increase employees' environmental knowledge and translate into conservation behaviors. Specifically, the authors tested ambient learning displays as a method of enhancing employees' energy-related environmental learning with the goal of discovering effective ways to motivate employees to reduce their energy usage at work.

The authors selected four main buildings of similar size on an American university campus for their study. In the entryways of each of the buildings, they installed notebook computers that displayed informational slides running on a loop. The slides contained facts about energy usage in the building, information about energy conservation, and tips about ways to conserve energy. Though the learning displays in each of the four buildings contained the same information, they were designed differently. Two of the learning displays played sounds to attract attention when movement was detected, and two had no audio functionality. Additionally, two of the displays conveyed information as text, whereas the other two depicted information as symbols and icons. The result was four different display designs: (1) audio notification + text, (2) audio notification + symbols, (3) no notification + text, and (4) no notification + symbols. The displays remained in the buildings for four weeks.

To collect information about changes in employees' environmental learning, the authors disseminated questionnaires to employees in each of the four buildings before and after the learning display installation. The surveys asked questions about environmental attitudes, awareness, knowledge, concern, and conservation behaviors related to energy consumption. The pre- and post-surveys were identical and were distributed one month prior to installation and one month after the displays were removed. A total of 94 employees, ranging in age from 26 to 65, responded to both the pre- and the post-surveys; two buildings had 12 participants, and the other two buildings had 35 participants. The authors analyzed the survey data using statistics to gauge changes in environmental learning and behaviors. In addition, they looked for any significant differences in the results when different display designs were used.

Overall, the authors found that the learning displays resulted in significant increases in employees' environmental knowledge and awareness. They also found that the way the display was designed had differential impacts among participants. For example, the largest knowledge gains were among employees exposed to the no notification + text display, the largest awareness gains were among those employees exposed to the audio notification + symbols display, and the largest environmental concern and attitude gains were found among employees exposed to the no notification + symbols display. Interestingly, the results indicate an environmental attitude/concern decline among employees in the audio notification + text group. None of these differences, however, were statistically significant; in other words, these differences may have happened by chance rather than the design of the displays. Overall, employees exposed to the audio notification + symbols display demonstrated the largest environmental learning gains, while those exposed to the audio notification + text display showed the smallest gains. The authors found no evidence of behavior changes.

This study included a very small number of participants and the findings were not statistically significant. If conducted in another location with more participants, the study may have produced different results. The study did not measure long-lasting environmental learning changes, nor was it able to detect any delayed changes. Additionally, there were other factors—such as the visual appeal of the design and the amount and type of information displayed—that were unaccounted for, which could have impacted the learning and behavioral results. Further, the designs for all four learning displays were relatively similar; other designs might have engaged employees differently, leading to different results. Finally, the study's context may have limited the generalizability of the results to other work settings. University campuses, presumably contexts full of learning opportunities, likely attract different types of employees than other professions. The learning display impacts on these employees could differ from the potential impacts on other types of professionals.

The authors acknowledged that ambient learning displays might be insufficient to promote environmental behavior in the workplace. However, the displays did not have a negative impact and, thus, may have a place in workplace environmental learning. The authors recommend that additional actions be taken to inspire behavior change, such as providing relevant incentives to employees for energy conservation behaviors. They also recommend experimenting with different display designs that could be more impactful. Gamifying displays or providing notifications about changes in energy usage might engage people differently and have better results.