Thru-hiking is seeing an unprecedented surge in popularity in recent years, with the numbers of prospective thru-hikers only expected to continue to increase. Amidst this thru-hiking boom, this study used the Means End of Recreation Scale to determine the values and outcomes that motivate thru-hikers to hike and drive their trail selection.…

Choreographed encounters with death in Copenhagen Zoo, such as school and public dissections, emphasize the importance of touch and are underpinned by the moral imperative to understand the nature of life and death. Such encounters are framed by zoo educators as contributing to a deeper environmental awareness. Taking the role of dead animals in…

Aiming to explore the meaning and value of the space of a sports club for university students in South Korea, this study employs the idea of spatial culture by Henri Lefebvre. The foundation of the cultural experience of a sports club is the cultural experience of a specific space; therefore, this paper takes the concern of spatial culture as the…

In this paper, we take an interest in a recently emerged 'DIY sports infrastructure' in a Belgian city: the Open Gym. The purpose of our inquiry is to contribute to the literature regarding sports pedagogy by developing theoretical notions, based on empirical engagements, that render how these kinds of sports infrastructures could make up…

Environmental interpretation provides visitors with positive experiences in nature while managing their impacts. Existing research has concentrated on the influence of interpretive programs on visitor knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Little empirical research exists on how visitors perceive their environment. In this research we examine the…

This study used the transtheoretical model of behavior change to categorize participants into stages of change groups regarding eleven conservation behaviors. Three main stages of change were identified: precontemplation, contemplation, and action. Participants from different stage placements were interviewed to explore barriers and motivations…

Youth co-design has the possibility to reframe learning and participation, repositioning and remediating youth roles. However, youth co-design processes can also unintentionally reproduce normative forms of power and learning. This paper describes how co-design processes can position youth as having full agency for the design of a digital badge…

We present two studies to investigate the extent to which attending a planetarium presentation increases secondary school students' understanding of the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. In the first study, we used the Apparent Motion of Sun and Stars (AMoSS) test in a pretest/post-test/retention test setting to measure learning gains and…

Ongoing management and research interest in dog-related issues at recreation areas necessitates examining support for relevant management strategies among different visitor groups. Using data collected from an onsite survey of nonadjacent visitors (n=1,257) and a household mail survey of visitors who live adjacent (n=74) to a multiple-use…

The purpose of this study was to examine the social benefits whitewater paddlers derive from a city whitewater park. Many communities are investing great sums of time and money in the development of whitewater parks, with the expectation that these parks will generate social benefits for park users and their surrounding communities (Moorman et…

In light of the significance of empathy in prosocial and conservation behavioral contexts, and with its relevance to social-emotional learning, which is an emphasis in early childhood education, empathy is a timely and meaningful construct to study within the context of nature preschools. Thus, a program evaluation was conducted to explore the…

A robust emergence of outdoor nature-based play areas in several European, Australian, Asian countries, as well as North America Canadian provinces, has occurred recently. This study explored the rationale for and construction of different play zones and affordances for children at a United States Central Kentucky local arboretum and research…

Free-recall paradigms have greatly influenced our understanding of memory. The majority of this research involves laboratory-based events (e.g., word lists) that are studied and tested within minutes. This literature shows that adults recall events in a temporally organized way, with successive responses often coming from neighboring list…

Educators working in museums, zoos, and botanic gardens are increasingly required to demonstrate impact. These requirements position 'performative evaluation' as the dominant model, one which also acts as a political, non-neutral, and managerial form of accountability. In contrast, 'practice evaluation' is intended to be democratic, dialogic, and…

Background: Free-choice learning, which often takes place in settings such as zoos, is where the learner has autonomy to choose what, where, how, and with whom to learn. Currently, little is known about the potential of free-choice learning experiences at informal settings to engage undergraduates in biology. Purpose: We sought to explore how…