The Audience

Use direct surveys and interviews to gauge public opinion as opposed to relying on “representative” stakeholders. (Direct representation may highlight factors not previously considered or lead to unexpected interests or concerns.)

Gauge public preference at an early stage of planning and design, or at least at the point where possible options are being considered.

In designing outreach to encourage participation in outdoor recreation programs, attend to:

• Individual and socio-economic characteristics of participants (age, gender, income, education) as they relate to their participation in outdoor activities.
• Participant engagement in environmental behavior, rather than their attitudes about the environment.

In designing outreach programs that strive to link environmental concern with recreational behaviors, attend to social factors that influence the choice of activity and the interpretation given the recreational experience.

Message content

Message delivery vehicle

Outreach strategy

• Combining: a) field activities; b) curriculum activities; c) family and community involvement.
• Multi-faceted experiences, which are more likely to lead to an increase in skills, knowledge and motivation than education which includes only one of the above elements.

To produce long-term changes in behavior:

• Provide comprehensive training in the set of variables correlated with measurable changes in environmentally-related behavior, including:
  • environmental sensitivity.
  • knowledge about ecology.
  • in-depth understanding of aquatic environmental issues
  • a sense of personal investment in specific environmental issues.
  • knowledge of environmental action strategies.
  • skills in using environmental action strategies.
  • an internal locus of control.
  • intentions to act.
• Provide continued application and reinforcement of content.
• View the behavior-change process as one that takes place over an expanse of time, in a combination of formal and non-formal settings, within the context of a supportive social environment.

Design programs to:

• Establish an explicit set of objectives.
• Target outcomes for specific audiences.
• Provide direct experience relevant to the objective.
• Provide authentic experience, similar to what the participant will experience in their personal life.
• Provide an opportunity to practice the target behavior.
• Provide learning opportunities before and after the field activities to optimize knowledge gain.

Develop program design and content to adhere to guiding principles for boating, fishing, and aquatic stewardship education. The program:

• Is learner-centered.
• Constitutes a continuous and lifelong process for individuals, families, and diverse social groups.
• Considers aquatic resources in their totality, including natural, built, technological, and social aspects (e.g. economics, politics, cultural-historical, moral, aesthetic).
• Provides participants with opportunities to engage in the valuing process (i.e., choosing, affirming, and acting) as it relates to programs, program activities, and their own growth and development.
• Follows the principles of inclusion with regard to program participation by minorities and people with disabilities
• Begins with goals and objectives that relate to appreciation and awareness, expands to include both knowledge and skills, and culminates in personal responsibility and responsible behavior.
• Builds upon local, state, and national partnerships to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs as well as to support stewardship of the resource.
• Relies on a variety of systematic and continuous approaches to the assessment of participants and evaluation of programs so as to improve and eventually validate those programs.
• Supports, engages in, and makes use of the scientific, social, educational, and other forms of research that have a bearing on programs.
• Recognizes the critical role and the need to adequately support ongoing professional development for all personnel associated with these efforts and programs, including those suggested or implied in the above principles.

In designing outreach programs that strive to link environmental concern with recreational behaviors vary program goals to reflect differences in commitment among experienced and active anglers, ex anglers, inactive anglers, and non anglers.

Public participation

Supporting and motivating professionals

Evaluation

The Individual

• Relates to the individual’s level of physical, intellectual, emotional, and social development.
• Relates to personal interests and provides for personal choice and control.
• Encourages the learner to set meaningful learning goals and to take personal responsibility for their own learning.

Promotes active engagement and real world problem solving.

Enables the learner to link new knowledge to their existing knowledge in meaningful ways.

Builds thinking and reasoning skills that learners can use to construct and apply their knowledge.

The Class or Group

Is based on and shaped by some form of needs assessment and use of a planning model.

Is designed to focus on a targeted audience and is built on an understanding of audience skills and interests.

Content and delivery is determined in cooperation with the target audience and stakeholders.

Is relevant to and accessible by people with diverse backgrounds and influences.

Web-Based Learning

The Community

Takes into consideration the community as a whole, including: socio-political, economic, historical, and cultural influences.

Generates and makes use of data about the local condition.

Beyond the Community