1. Want to Evaluate But Don’t Know How? Let EUGENE Help!
Ecological Understanding as a Guideline for Evaluation of Non-Formal Education Dr. Mike Mengak- University of Georgia, Dr. Michaela Zint- University of Michigan, Dr. Barbara McDonald- USDA Forest Service,
Michelle C. Andrews-University of Georgia, Dr. Stan Zarnoch-USDA Forest Service
What is EUGENE?
A non-formal EE evaluation system that :
based upon 7 general educational ecological principles
highly adaptable & easy to use
virtually cost free to EE administrators & teachers
Why use EUGENE?
Your teaching programs emphasize
the importance of ecological
understanding.
The 7 general ecological principles
are already incorporated into popular
EE programs. Of 94 activities surveyed (e.g. Project Learning Tree, WET, WILD), 92 (97.9%) included references to at least one ecological principle & 69 (73.4%) included references to four or more ecological principles.
Mengak, M.T., Rutledge, H. E., McDonald, B. (2009). Ecological principles – A Unifying Theme in Environmental Education. In Press: Journal of Extension
Principles of Ecology:
Adaptation
Behavior
Growth & Development
Diversity
Energy Flow
Limits
Regulation
(Used as education standards)
Named in honor of Eugene Odum, the “father of modern ecology.”
When to use EUGENE?
Review your activities.
Are any of the 7 principles evident?
If so, then EUGENE will measure knowledge gain of those principles.
Where to find EUGENE?
EUGENE can also be found on MEERA (My Environmental Education Evaluation Research Assistant)
Just about everything that concerns us as humans on this earth—growth, competition and cooperation, health, quality of life, survival, use of energy, space and resources, relationships with other forms of life and so on—has parallels in nature.
UGA Institute of Ecology
assisted in the ID
of the 8 ecological principles….
Cronbach Alpha Scores for
each set of questions per principle.
Adaptation
Behavior
Development
Diversity
Energy Flow
Limits
Regulation
….statements were
developed for each
principle to be used
in a simple evaluation
instrument.
Therefore it stands to reason that we can learn a lot from ecology, the science of the environment, that can help us understand & deal with our human predicaments & dilemmas. Eugene Odum