DEFINING RESEARCH

RESEARCH ABSTRACTS
Abstract 1

Environmental education researchers have called for a greater analysis of ‘learning’ in

environmental education in relation to contemporary theories and explanatory frameworks
of learning. Situated learning, as a prominent example, is a sociocultural theory that contends
that learning is a social process that occurs as individuals participate in ‘communities of
practice’. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the usefulness and applicability of
the communities of practice framework to the analysis of learning in environmental
education, focusing on the learning in after-school environmental education programs for
Hispanic youth. Results suggest that the framework can be applied to identify some
environmental education programs as communities of practice, characterized by the
development of joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire. The framework
was also found to be useful in identifying and describing learning as bringing about changes in
identity formation as a result of participation in the programs. Finally, we suggest that such
programs, due to their free-choice nature and multiple opportunities for participation, also
offer suitable contexts for further research regarding the relevance of sociocultural theories
of learning to environmental education practice.

Aguilar, Olivia M., and Marianne E. Krasny. "Using the communities of practice framework to
examine an after-school environmental education program for Hispanic
youth." Environmental Education Research 17, no. 2 (2011): 217-233.

Abstract 2

This research examined families’ interactions with the outdoors and exploration tools, such
as field guides, at a nature center. In Phase 1 of the research, 28 families attending nature
walk programs completed a survey on exploration tools and were ethnographically
shadowed as they interacted on one trail. In Phase 2, an in-depth video-based analysis of
learning processes was applied to 16 families’ (54 people) recorded conversations from the
nature walks. A conceptual framework based on informal learning and sociocultural theory
situates the study. Findings show that families wanted scientific tools to support
observations, yet struggled with field guides to identify species. Implications for supporting
family learning processes include the need for localized educational guides and the
advantages of video-based methodologies.

Zimmerman, Heather Toomey, and Lucy Richardson McClain. "Exploring the outdoors together:
Assessing family learning in environmental education." Studies in Educational Evaluation 41
(2014): 38-47.

Created by STANFORD SOCIAL ECOLOGY LAB 2020