The effectiveness of environmental education for youth: A metaanalysis

Abstract

Youth are crucial agents for sustainable change. Accordingly, environmental education (EE) programs have been developed to try to improve their environmental outcomes. We conducted a multilevel meta-analysis incorporating a total of 169 independent studies (512 effect sizes; 176,007 participants) to synthesize five decades of research on the effectiveness of EE for youth. EE significantly improved youth’s environmental knowledge (g = .953), attitudes (g = .384), intentions (g = .256), and – mostly self-reported – behavior (g = .410). Although heterogeneity in effect sizes was substantial, effect sizes were independent of participant age and identified variations in educational approach (i.e., group learning, nature experience). Overall, this meta-analysis demonstrated the potential value of EE for improving youth’s environmental outcomes, but also identified methodological challenges for EE research. We proposed a set of research priorities to help further improve empirical scrutiny of EE for youth.