Carlos Trejos

Mixed Methods Informal Interviews Online Survey with Demographics Data Collection -Results are from the validation phase. 13/25 online surveys answered. 3 Informal Interviews conducted -Online surveys were conducted by notification and presented in survey monkey -Informal interviews were applied in person (2) and through the phone (1) -Validation subjects were various colleagues who are educators in US. -Same tools exist in Spanish and will be the official ones for the research. They are being validated currently by Costa Rican educators, but I haven’t retrieved any yet.

Most of the subjects were: -Between years old -54 % women -With some graduate school education or more -Between years of teaching experience -Most of them feel very familiar with the places they have taught -Other questions didn’t currently apply to them, such as teacher category, what class do they teach, or where they teach.

Core QuestionsAnswers with highest response rate What is your best definition of “place”? PERCEPTUAL 41.7% chose “Other”. They preferred to write their own opinion. Why do you consider that a connection to “place” is important for students? IDEOLOGICAL 41.7% chose “To increase students participation and positive change” How do you best address the notion of “place” in the classroom? SOCIOLOGICAL 45.5% chose “Other”. They preferred to write their own opinion. How do teachers best promote local “place” participation? POLITICAL 41.7% chose “Other”. They preferred to write their own opinion. How are students best involved with the local natural resources? ECOLOGICAL 41.7% chose “Through organized outdoor school events (i.e. field trips)” (Optional) Please comment on your own experience of place-based education in the classroom Comments ranged from taking kids outside, connect school and community, to not being able to tangibly practice PBE

What is your concept of “place”? Why do you think the concept of “place” is relevant in a classroom setting? How do you incorporate the concept of “place” in the classroom setting? What activities can teachers and the schools organize to allow students to become more involved to their “place”? How can students connect with and improve their natural surroundings? What are some of the larger community benefits of place-based education? Results: Answers are easy to understand but hard to respond concisely 3 respondents understand the notion of place and its general importance, but don’t really know how to implement it Answers were long and could have been more precise

Conclusions - Subjects in this validation phase don’t have a defined position of PBE according to the five dimensions of place (Gruenewald, 2003) - 3/5 questions didn’t harness a particular type of response, because respondents chose ‘Other’ Implications Subjects in the validation might need a better idea of how PBE is defined and how to implement Demographics might influence the type of response. Both tools show that subjects have a notion of PBE and it might be transferred to the classroom. However, the five dimensions of place criteria might not be the best theoretical approach for the study.