This study attempted to assess the development of environmental virtue in 7th and 8th grade students in an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (ELOB) school using an instrument developed for this study—the Children's Environmental Virtue Scale (CEVS). Data for this study were obtained by administering the CEVS survey (pretest and posttest) to students in an ELOB school (n = 45) that included a 10-week expeditionary learning unit. The internal consistency of the survey instrument was determined using Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients. Mean environmental virtue scores were compared using paired samples t-tests. Significant results indicated a decrease in the mean environmental virtue scores for students who participated in the expeditionary learning unit. Limitations of the study are presented.
AllisonP.PomeroyE. (2000). How shall we “know?” Epistemological concerns in research in experiential education. Journal of Experiential Education, 23(2), 91–98.
2.
CafaroP. J. (2005a). Thoreau, Leopold, and Carson: Toward an environmental virtue ethics. In SandlerR.CafaroP. (Eds.), Environmental virtue ethics (pp. 31–44). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
3.
CafaroP. J. (2005b). Gluttony, arrogance, greed, and apathy: An exploration of environmental vice. In SandlerR.CafaroP. (Eds.), Environmental virtue ethics (pp. 135–158). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
4.
CafaroP. J.PrimackR. B.ZimdahlR. L. (2006). The fat of the land: Linking American food overconsumption, obesity, and biodiversity loss. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 19(6), 1187–7863.
FishbeinM.AjzenI. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
12.
FishbeinM.ManfredoM. J. (1992). A theory of behavior change. In ManfredoM. J. (Ed.), Influencing human behavior: Theory and applications in recreation, tourism, and natural resources management (pp. 29–50). Champaign, IL: Sagamore.
13.
GolleyF. (1998). A primer for environmental literacy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
14.
HahnK. (May 9, 1965). Outward Bound. Address given to a conference at Harrogate. Outward Bound Trust.
15.
HoganJ. M. (1968). Impelled into experience: The story of the Outward Bound schools. London: Educational Productions Limited.
16.
HuntJ. S. (1990). Philosophy of adventure education. In MilesJ. C.PriestS. (Eds.), Adventure education. State College, PA: Venture.
17.
JamesT. (May 1990). Kurt Hahn and the aims of education. Journal of Experiential Education, 13(1), 6–13.
18.
JamesT. (1995). The only mountain worth climbing. In CousinsE.RodgersM. (Eds.), Fieldwork: An Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound reader, Vol. 1Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
KnappC. E. (1999). In accord with nature: Helping students form an environmental ethic using outdoor experience and reflection. Charleston, WV: Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.
21.
LeemingF. C.DwyerW. O.BrackenB. A. (1995). Children's environmental attitude and knowledge scale: Construction and validation. Journal of Environmental Education, 26(3), 22–32.
22.
LeopoldA. (1949). A Sand County almanac: And sketches here and there. London: Oxford University Press.
23.
MacIntyreA. (1984). After virtue (2nd ed.). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
24.
ManfredoM. J.TeelT. L.BrightA. D. (2004). Applications of the concepts of values and attitudes in human dimensions of natural resources research. In ManfredoM. J.VaskeJ. J.BruyereB. L.FieldD. R.BrownP. J. (Eds.), Society and natural resources: A summary of knowledge (pp. 271–282). Jefferson, MO: Modern Litho.
25.
MinerJ. L.BoldtJ. (2002). Outward Bound USA: Crew not passengers (2nd ed.). Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers Books.
26.
SandlerR. (2007). Character and environment: A virtue-oriented approach to environmental ethics. New York: Columbia University Press.
SchorJ. B. (1998). The overspent American: Why we want what we don't need. New York: Basic Books.
29.
ShoafB. (1998). The taking of the Tongass: Alaska's rainforest. Sequim, WA: Running Wolf Press.
30.
SibthorpJ. (2000). Measuring weather … and adventure education: Exploring the instruments of adventure education research. Journal of Experiential Education, 23(2), 99–107.
31.
SmithG. A.WilliamsD. R. (1999). Re-engaging culture and ecology. In SmithG. A.WilliamsD. R. (Eds.), Ecological education in action: On weaving education, culture, and the environment. New York: State University of New York Press.
32.
SteutelJ.SpieckerB. (2004). Cultivating sentimental dispositions through Aristotelian habituation. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 38(4), 531–549.
33.
StamatisD. H. (2002). Six sigma and beyond: Statistics and probability (Vol. 3). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
34.
SwantonC. (2003). Virtue ethics: A pluralistic view. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
35.
VaskeJ. J.DonnellyM. P. (1999). A value-attitude-behavior model predicting wildland preservation voting intentions. Society and Natural Resources, 12, 523–537.
36.
WensveenL. (2000). Dirty virtues: The emergence of ecological virtue ethics. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
37.
WensveenL. (2005). Cardinal environmental virtues: A neurobiological perspective. In SandlerR.CafaroP. (Eds.), Environmental virtue ethics (pp. 173–194). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
38.
WilsonR. (1981). Inside Outward Bound. Charlotte, NC: The East Woods Press.
39.
WurdingerS. D. (1997). Philosophical issues in adventure education (3rd ed). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
