The maintenance of urban natural resources provides important opportunities for civic, economic, and public health benefits. However, urban youth experience limited opportunities to learn about the importance of the urban ecosystem. With the aim to improving youths “self-efficacy toward science and their sense of environmental stewardship,” this article studied the impact of a high school student summer program focused on urban ecology.
Participants of the program completed one of two projects in one week that included a scientific investigation using geographic information systems (GIS) combined with computer modeling tools of their urban ecosystems. The first project investigated ecological services provided by their urban forest canopy and the second project investigated the impact of urban noise upon birdsongs. In addition, high school participants were informed about different careers in the fields of science and technology.
For the purpose of this study the researchers used a mixed methodology, which included collecting data through pre- and post-test surveys composed of multiple scales: (1) science self-efficacy, (2) science interest, (3) ecological mindset, (4) career planning and (5) work hope. In addition, participants completed an open-ended response questionnaire with a researcher present to observe participants during the program, noting their struggles in terms of learning the technology, comprehension of content, and interest in communicating career goals. In total, 59 of 61 program participants completed the survey. The data collected was analyzed using a paired t-test and analysis of co-variance to evaluate the impacts of either race or gender on the results.
The researchers found that by engaging urban youth in locally focused, in-depth, and targeted environmental science investigations, participants could develop the confidence to investigate and solve local problems. The study data suggests that the program increased high school student's ecological mindset and self-efficacy toward science increased significantly. Examining the participants open-ended response questions researchers found that participants felt that they “developed a better sense of value and the challenges that their urban environment faced”, and “developed a sense of completion and pride in their work and improved self-efficacy”.
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