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development and evaluation of a student guidebook on the man-made environment to be integrated with the fourth grade curricula
Purpose of the Research. The investigation sought to develop a student guidebook on the man-made environment for environmental studies which could be utilized in conjunction with the existing curricula at the fourth grade level. This study was conducted in pursuit of the stated objectives. These objectives were to: A. Identify specific concepts of the man-made environment that need to be included in environmental studies at the fourth grade level; B. Develop a student guidebook on the man-made environment to introduce the basic concepts important to developing environmental awareness; C. Determine if desirable changes in environmental awareness at the fourth grade level can be attributed to the use of the prepared guidebook; D. Ascertain the usability of the prepared guidebook as a supplement to existing course material. The research was conducted at Sul Ross Elementary School 1n Bryan, Texas during the spring semester, 1972. The research population consisted of 146 students enrolled in the fourth grade and five participating fourth grade teachers who reviewed the guidebook. Procedure of the Research. The prepared guidebook consisted of an introduction and eight chapters. The fully illustrated guidebook was presented to the students with the use of photographic slides. The concepts in the guidebook were related to the cultural and physical aspects of the man-made environment. Opinionnaires were developed and used to obtain data necessary in the evaluation of the hypotheses. The student opinionnaire was used as a pre-evaluative and a post-evaluative instrument. The student opinionnaire consisted of twenty items, each with five rated responses. The responses were rated one through five or five through one, depending upon the item. The value of five was assigned for the most desirable response and the value of one to the least desired response. The data obtained from the student opinionnaires were analyzed on an I.B.M. 360-65 digital computer. A teacher opinionnaire with ten items was prepared with responses rated in the same fashion as the student opinionnaire. This evaluative instrument was used to determine the teachers' opinions of the guidebook. The data obtained from the opinionnaires were analyzed to determine the overall success of the guidebook in attaining its stated educational objectives. The results of this analysis formed the basis for making conclusions. Conclusions of the Research. The major research hypothesis in this study was that a student guidebook on the man-made environment could be developed and utilized to effectively introduce concepts important to developing environmental awareness at the fourth grade level. The study was designed to test the major research hypothesis by accepting or rejecting three hypotheses. The information and data collected throughout this study form the basis for the following conclusions and observations: 1. The students subjected to the use of the guidebook received an overall gain from the pre-test to the post-test in the mean response rating score of 7.8 per cent. The students not subjected to the use of the prepared guidebook showed a loss of 0.3 per cent in the mean response rating score from the pre-test to the post-test, The data obtained from the research population indicated that a significant difference exists between the groups subjected to the use of the prepared guidebook and the groups not subjected to the use of the prepared guidebook. 2. The guidebook received an overall mean rating of 4.40 from the teachers' evaluations. Percentage wise, this amounts to 88 percent. High ratings, on items ten and six, indicated the teachers' opinions that students did exhibit a greater concern for their environment and that the prepared guidebook would be a useful supplement to the existing curricula. Based upon the population used, it has been concluded that students will exhibit a greater concern about the environment in which they live when subjected to the use of the prepared guidebook; and the prepared guidebook will be a useful supplement to the existing curricula.
D.E.D. in Architecture Texas A&M University.