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Forest discovery: place relationships on an environmental science, arts and humanities (eSAH) field trip

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2020

Lissy Goralnik*
Affiliation:
Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Sarah Minette Kelly
Affiliation:
Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Kari O’Connell
Affiliation:
Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Michael Paul Nelson
Affiliation:
Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Mark Schulze
Affiliation:
Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: goralnik@msu.edu

Abstract

Sense of place describes both affective and cognitive — emotional and intellectual — connections to place. Affective outcomes, tied to arts and humanities education, can facilitate these connections. But little research explores environmental science, arts and humanities (eSAH) curricula on place relationships. Additionally, most research on the sense of place focuses on repeated visits to a place over time, rather than short-term experiences like a field trip. Finally, digital technology is a growing trend across science education, but little research investigates its use in field-based contexts. Our research begins to address these gaps. This article describes an eSAH field trip for middle and high school learners. Using a conventional content analysis, we present pilot data from two high school field trips. Our findings illuminate a framework for understanding active and passive place relationships in the context of short-term interdisciplinary field learning experiences.

Type
Article
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This manuscript is original work. It has not been submitted or published anywhere else.

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