A PhD student at UBC’s Okanagan campus uses a smartphone app to measure ways children, adults become eco-stewards
Maxine Crawford is part of a team that found a novel way to assess children’s connection with nature – using a smartphone app.
A graduate student in the psychology department in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences at UBC’s Okanagan campus, Crawford’s doctoral research is studying interventions to increase pro-environmentalism in children, funded by a $105,000 Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
“We know that children whose parents take them hiking and camping have a higher awareness of the environment,” says Crawford. “Also, childhood experiences with nature have a large impact on one’s environmental involvement as an adult.”
Such interactions with nature aid the development of self-concept, personal identity and environmental protection, says Crawford, whose supervisor is Assoc. Prof. Mark Holder.
“We are using technology as tool to see if children can be engaged by nature. I want to see if we can promote positive environmental behaviour in children.” – Maxine Crawford
“Research suggests children’s physical, cognitive, emotional and moral development are enhanced by experience with nature.”
Get to know OISEAU
The study employs an iPhone and iPad app called Order of Inter-Species Explorers Adventurers and Ubernaturalists (OISEAU): Agents of Nature, developed by the non-profit Kelowna-based tech firm Morning Star Enterprises. The mobile app promotes an engagement with nature and provides a fun activity for children.
Crawford uses the game app for her research and expects to see how Agents of Nature helps children develop responsible attitudes towards environmental stewardship.
Morning Star had an existing business relationship with the City of Calgary, featuring the Agents of Nature app for use in city parks. Crawford partnered with Calgary Catholic Schools to collect data on student field trips to the park while Calgary Parks and Morning Star Enterprises provided partial funding.
The study involves quick response (QR) matrix barcodes posted at various Calgary park locations. When the app is loaded onto a smartphone, users can read the QR codes to launch a program specifically geared to each spot.
The QR codes then spur a series of questions, using multiple choice questions, visual aides and colours. Students are asked to identify a feature, provide details about flora and fauna and make observations.
Plans are to collect data from about 1,000 participating students. Data from the study conducted over the fall will be analyzed and presented next spring as one of Crawford’s PhD comprehensive examinations.
“We are using technology as tool to see if children can be engaged by nature,” Crawford says. “I want to see if we can promote positive environmental behaviour in children.”
Aimed at 10- to 14-year-olds, the app also helps students learn such skills as map reading, using tablet computers and cellphones for researching and collaborating with classmates.
Aligning attitude with behaviour
A separate study Crawford has been involved with is based on discrepancy theory. Involving participants in the U.S. and India, the study measures whether adults align their attitudes about the environment with their behaviour. In other words, do people actually conduct themselves in ways that are consistent with the values they support.
“If we align attitudes and behaviour, we find people are happier and more content,” says Crawford. Her master’s thesis focused on people’s exposure to nature as a prevention for stress. She found that highly neurotic people exposed to an urban environment had the highest negative outcomes. As well, an individual’s openness to experience impacted their response to an urban or natural environment.
Screen shot of app taken from Order of Inter-Species Explorers Adventurers and Ubernaturalists (OISEAU): Agents of Nature.
A high-definition version of this photo can be downloaded from:
http://universityrelations.ok.ubc.ca/News2013/Maxine_Crawford/Calgary_zoo.jpg
Screen shot of app taken from Order of Inter-Species Explorers Adventurers and Ubernaturalists (OISEAU): Agents of Nature.
A high-definition version of this photo can be downloaded from:
http://universityrelations.ok.ubc.ca/News2013/Maxine_Crawford/magpie.jpg