Program on the Environment

Garden-based learning (“GBL”) has recently become an integral part of K-12 education in the United States, providing students a foundation for accessible and adaptable STEM learning. Although garden-based learning is a flexible, interdisciplinary tool ideal for informal science teaching, its use has greatly decreased due to the shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some schools and educators have been fortunate enough to continue GBL, many have lost access to this important, hands-on tool. External organizations such as Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center have created their own digital GBL learning tools and materials which at-home educators can access remotely. During my time interning with Oxbow, I assisted the education team who were piloting their virtual garden-based lessons known as the Digital, Investigative, and Guided (“D.I.G.”) experience to students ages six to twelve at the Associated Recreation Council (“ARC”), a non-profit and my current employer. I set out to evaluate how the students engaged with garden-based learning during remote education. To accomplish this, I administered assessments via an online application at the onset of and after lessons to gauge changes in their environmental literacy and attitudes towards the environment. I found that GBL can be successfully taught to students during remote learning and increases students’ ecological literacy and positive perceptions of the environment. With a post-COVID world in sight, there is an urgency to support students’ nature-focused needs, and this study lays the foundation for what that process may look like.