National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education

1. National Project forExcellence in Environmental Education Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence

2. Presenters • Bora Simmons, National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education • Katie Navin, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education • Jolon Clark, Greenway Foundation

3. Quick Tour of Adobe Connect

4. Tell us something about yourself …

5. Promoting Excellence for Environmental Education

6. Primary Sponsors: U.S. EPA • Office of Environmental Education EECapacity • EPA funded national EE training program housed in Cornell University’s Civic Ecology Lab

7. Other Partners • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • U.S. Forest Service • National Environmental Education Foundation • State EE Associations – such as the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) • Organizational partners – such as Project Learning Tree, Arbor Day Foundation, Project WILD, Keep America Beautiful, Project WET

8. Where does your program content come from?

9. Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence

10. Materials: Guidelines for Excellence • A Resource That Provides: • Recommendations for selecting quality EE materials • Tools for evaluating a wide array of materials • Guidance for developing new EE materials • Developed through a broad-based review and comment process

11. Materials: Guidelines for Excellence Six Key Characteristics 1) Fairness and accuracy 2) Depth 3) Emphasis on Skills Building 4) Action Orientation 5) Instructional Soundness 6) Usability

13. Key Characteristic One Fairness and Accuracy 1.1) Factual Accuracy 1.2) Balanced Presentation of Differing Viewpoints and Theories 1.3) Openness to Inquiry 1.4) Reflection of Diversity

14. Key Characteristic Two Depth 2.1) Awareness 2.2) Focus on Concepts 2.3) Concepts in Context 2.4) Attention to Different Scales

15. Key Characteristic Three Emphasis on Skills Building 3.1) Critical and Creative Thinking 3.2) Applying Skills to Issues 3.3) Action Skills

16. Key Characteristic Four Action Orientation 4.1) Sense of Personal Stake and Responsibility 4.2) Self-Efficacy

17. Key Characteristic Five Instructional Soundness 5.1) Learner-Centered Instruction 5.2) Different ways of Learning 5.3) Connection to Learners’ Everyday Lives 5.4) Expanded Learning Environment 5.5) Interdisciplinary 5.6) Goals and Objectives 5.7) Appropriateness for Specific Learning Settings 5.8) Assessment

18. Key Characteristic Six Usability 6.1) Clarity and Logic 6.2) Easy to Use 6.3) Long-Lived 6.4) Adaptable 6.5) Accompanied by Instruction and Support 6.6) Make Substantiated Claims 6.7) Fit with National, State, or Local Requirements

19. Key Characteristics and your work… 1) Fairness and Accuracy 2) Depth 3) Emphasis on Skills Building 4) Action Orientation 5) Instructional Soundness 6) Usability

20. Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education

21. Want to Learn More? • Offer a workshop thru our Guidelines Trainers’ Bureau • Access information thru EELinked: eelinked.net/n/guidelines • Attend another webinar

24. eelinked.naaee.net/n/guidelines

25. Future Webinars April 24th 4:00pm (Eastern) Excellence in EE: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) May 1st 1:00pm (Eastern) Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development May 8th 4:00pm (Eastern) Nonformal EE Programs: Guidelines for Excellence June 26th 4:00pm (Eastern) Early Childhood EE Programs: Guidelines for Excellence

26. Get Involved:Community EE Guidelines For more information: Akiima Price akiima@apriceconsulting.com

27. Questions?

28. Join us at the NAAEE Conference