1. Project Based Personal Water Conservation Susan Randolph North Carolina State University

2. Literature Review Gigiotti, L.M. (1992). Environmental Attitudes. Kollmuss, A.,& Agyeman, J. (2002). Why do People act environmentally and what are barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Jensen, B.B., & Neilson, K. ( 2003). Action-oriented environmental education:Clarifying the concept of action. Breiting, S. & Mogenson, F. ( 1999). Action Competence and Environmental Education. Pooley, J.A., & O’Connor, M. (2000). Environmental education and attitudes: Emotions and beliefs are what is needed.

3. Environmental education not producing environmentally friendly mindset and actions. Moral mandate for sustainability. Water conservation is understudied in education. Curricular project design can utilize research based recommendations. Key points for research design

4. Will the completion of an action-based water project create change in student water conservation action? Do student perceptions about personal use of water resources change? Research Questions

5. Methodology Pre and Post-Survey with treatment and control groups Sample Population High School Students Earth/Environmental Science 26 treatment, 21 control Demographics Likert Scale Survey 1-5

6. Item Content Item 1. I do not know much about how to help conserve water resources. Item 2. I can affect the global water shortage through my actions. Item 3. Even if I conserved water, what real difference would it make, so why do it. Item 4. I have a good understanding of how to conserve water in my daily life Item 5. A group of people can make a real difference in water conservation.

7. Seven day Personal Water Conservation Project 2 day baseline, 5 day implementation Personal action plan and daily reflections Full class based analysis and statistical picture Positive emotional and empowering experience Treatment Description

8. Author as administrator : used ID numbers only, consistent application Survey Design: multiple items, same format, directions, placement Student Attitudes: time of day, directions Sample size, absences Water unit content: varied between groups, focus on importance of water Internal Validity

9. Sample Scatter plot

10. Averages by item for Control and Treatment Groups Item Number Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Delta Item 1 Control group (n= 21) 2.286 2.095 0.19 Treatment group ( n=26) 2.577 1.846 0.73 Item 2 Control group 3.619 3.714 0.10 Treatment group 3.333 4.231 0.90 Item 3 Control group 2.143 2.333 0.19 Treatment group 2.692 1.692 1.0 Item 4 Control group 3.857 3.905 0.05 Treatment group 3.231 4.192 0.96 Item 5 Control group 4.333 4.095 0.24 Treatment group 4.423 4.808 0.38

11. Results Paired t-test (single tail) values for Treatment and Non-Treatment groups (p<0.01**) Item ControlTreatment Group 1 0.2316 0.000169** 2 0.3771 0.000383 ** 3 0.2591 0.000242** 4 0.3945 0.000124** 5 0.1430 0.000251**

12. Gain Score Analysis Item number Mean Variance t stat P(T<=t), p<.05* Item 1 Control -0.190 1.262 Treatment -0.731 1.325 -1.62 0.0561 Item 2 Control 0.095 1.890 Treatment 0.962 1.64 2.215 0.0162* Item 3 Control 0.190 1.76 Treatment -1.0 2.72 -2.75 0.00874* Item4 Control 0.0476 0.648 Treatment 0.962 0.647 3.200 0.0013* Item 5 Control -0.2381 0.991 Treatment 0.385 0.406 2.49 0.0091*

13. Although initial pre-test levels for the groups differed, the control scores never varied by more than 0.24 and averaged 0.15. The treatment score average change was 0.81. Paired t test results for changes by item were all significant at p< 0.01. 4 item gain score comparisons were significant at p< 0.05. Conclusions

14. Conclusions Item 1, 3 and 4 support an increase in student action. Item 2 and 5 support a change in student perceptions toward water conservation.

15. More study needs to be done in the area of water conservation education. Research based concepts from the literature can help design instructionally effective projects in water conservation. Effective water conservation education should include intellectual, affective and action oriented components to be effective. Suggestions