This study examined the development of two nature-related assessment tools appropriate for use with children: (1) the stewardship elaboration scale (SES), designed to measure awareness, interest and cognitive engagement in issues pertaining to stewardship; and (2) the stewardship behavior scale (SBS), designed to measure home, community, and in-park stewardship behaviors. A goal in developing these assessment tools was to support future research that could explore the impact of environmental education on youth participants and examine the relationship between elaboration and the performance of stewardships behaviors. As used in this study, “elaboration” refers to an increase in awareness, interest, and cognitive engagement occurring as a result of communication attempts.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) was used as the site of this study. Two groups of children (ages 8-13) participated. One group included children who intended to participate in the Junior Ranger (JR) environmental education program at the park. The other group included children who had already completed the program. The JR program engages children in nature-focused games and science monitoring activities designed to promote awareness, interest, and engagement in environmental stewardship issues. Specific goals of the program along with other research-based understandings of environmental stewardship behaviors were used to develop the stewardship elaboration scale (SES) and the stewardship behavior scale (SBS). These scales were administered to both groups of children, with 193 children in the pre-experience group and 211 in the post-experience group completing the surveys.
Analysis of the data focused on the validity, reliability, and psychometric properties of the two scales. Results support findings consistent with previous studies indicating distinct categories of stewardship and pro-environmental behaviors, including distinct knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, social norms, and perceived barriers. These findings suggest that environmental education programs might be more successful if they explicitly address each category of behavior. Results also indicate that both the SES and SBS are valid and reliable scales for determining children's elaboration and behaviors pertaining to environmental stewardship. While further refinement of the scales and pilot testing in other contexts are recommended, the SES and SBS have high potential as tools for evaluating the outcomes of environmental education programs.
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