STEP 39 PLANNING STEPS - STEP 3

Develop a Shared Vision

A vision is a guiding tool that can be used as a reference throughout the course of a project. Early agreement on a shared vision will help when a group gets stuck in details or the path becomes uncertain and can quickly help a group get back on track.

Example

Ways To Involve Youth

Considerations

Create a school-yard habitat.

flowers

Have students research successful schoolyard habitat projects, then report their findings to the entire school
Brainstorm ideas for how the school-yard habitat will be used – to attract wildlife?  As a garden?  For environmental education?

Conduct a focus group with students

Have students engage in a school mapping activity

The environment must feel safe for youth to contribute their ideas. This may mean holding separate visioning sessions for youth and adults. If this is the approach you take, ensure that youth input is reflected in the documents.

How will you come to consensus on the vision?

Asking Youth Their Opinion:  Focus Group Case Study (by the Public Lands Institute, 2007)

An interactive interpretive trail was designed to engage families and youth in a guided discovery of the natural history at a popular meadow located in a local National Recreation Area.  Creating an in-depth interactive experience can be a powerful way to foster positive stewardship behaviors.

flowersTo determine if the activities and messages incorporated in this proposed interpretive trail were effective, a focus group was conducted with a group of 13 fifth-grade students.  The purpose of the focus group was to inform us of changes needed to content and/or design of the activities. 

To conduct the focus group, life sized mock-ups were created for each of the activities using butcher paper, clip-art, and computer-generated text panels.  We then observed the youth interacting with these mock-ups.  An Observation Form was created to prompt the observer to record the following:

  • Describe participant behavior while at each Activity Mock-Up

  • Record the sequence of behaviors at the Activity Mock-Up (for example:  read text -> discuss with peers what to do -> do activity -> comment on activity)

  • Total amount of time at Activity Mock Up (this could serve as a measure of engagement)

  • Comments


In addition, the observer filled out the following rubric for each participant:

ID

1

2

3

4

 

Focuses on activity most (more than 75%) of the time; fidgets and engages in unrelated tasks the remainder of the time.

Focuses on activity some (50-75%) of the time.  Fidgets and engages in unrelated tasks the remainder of the time.

Focuses on activity 25-50% of the time; fidgets and engages in unrelated tasks the other time.

Barely focuses on activity (0-25%) of the time; fidgets and engages in unrelated tasks most of the time.
  Completes all tasks associated with the activity. Completes almost (75% or more) all tasks associated with the activity Only half of activity tasks completed. Virtually none of the tasks associated with the activity were completed.
  Never is publicly critical of the sign or activity or the participation of others. Always has a positive attitude about the tasks. Rarely is publicly critical of the activity or the participation of others. Often has a positive attitude about the tasks. Occasionally is publicly critical of the activity or the participation of others. Usually has a positive attitude about the tasks. Often is publicly critical of the activity or the participation of others. Often has a negative attitude about the tasks.

To begin, we told the youth group about the project – the idea behind the interpretive trail and where it would be located.  We asked the group if anyone had visited the area, and what their experience had been.  We then told the group that their input would be used to help us make the best Interpretive Trail possible.  We told them we would observe them participating in the mock-up activities, then ask them about what they thought.  We told them their input would be used to inform us on the best way to design and create the final Interpretive Trail.

questionAfter the children had completed all the activities, they were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach, using probing questions as appropriate to get more details about the experience and the reasons behind their responses.  The focus group questions included:

  1. What did you like about these activities?

  2. What was your favorite one?  Why?

  3. What was your least favorite activity?  Why?

  4. What do you like about this sign? (hold sign example up) (Probing questions:  can you tell me more?)

  5. What is the most important thing you could learn from this sign?  (Probing questions:  what other things could help you learn this?  Is there anything else that comes to mind about this topic?)

  6. What do you think is important to tell your family or friends about Lee Meadows?

While asking the youth questions, it was important to practice Active Listening techniques.  This included repeating back what we heard, giving supportive responses and using positive body language. 

Conducting this focus group allowed us to evaluate how effective and engaging the interactive components of the interpretive trail were likely to be, and whether or not the presentation of the content resulted in participants learning about the natural history of the area.  It also helped us understand if the transfer of stewardship messages was successful.