Building environmental educators’ evaluation capacity through distance education

Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is seldom mentioned in the environmental education (EE) literature, but as demonstrated by the lack and poor quality of EE evaluations, is much needed. This article focuses on an online course, Applied Environmental Education Program Evaluation (AEEPE), which provides nonformal educators with an understanding of how evaluation can be used to improve their EE programs. The authors provide descriptions of key aspects and strategies for addressing challenges they face in teaching AEEPE, such as: reducing attrition, developing and maintaining a social learning environment online, and improving students’ understanding of attribution and logic models. While the course equips environmental educators with the skills necessary to design and implement basic evaluations, there is less certainty that the course contributes to generating demand for evaluation within organizations and the profession. Therefore the authors call on national organizations and associations for help with increasing the demand for ECB in the EE community.