Programmatic Evaluation in Association of Zoos and Aquariums–Accredited Zoos and Aquariums: A Literature Review

Khalil, Kathayoon; Ardoin, Nicole M.

doi:10.1080/1533015x.2011.614813

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Zoos and aquariums attract a wide audience: the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums reports over 700 million visitors a year (including repeat visitors; World Association of Zoos and Aquariums); there are over 180 million distinct visitors a year to AZA accredited zoos (Association of Zoos and Aquariums 2016; see also Gusset and Dick 2011), and over 20 million in France alone (Association Franc ßaise des Parcs Zoologiques). Besides their direct conservation mission, they devote attention and effort to environmental education (http://www.waza.org/en/site/about-waza/wha t-we-do; Khalil and Ardoin 2011). Indeed, research has shown that zoo visits can increase knowledge (Falk et al 2007;Khalil and Ardoin 2011;Moss et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides their direct conservation mission, they devote attention and effort to environmental education (http://www.waza.org/en/site/about-waza/wha t-we-do; Khalil and Ardoin 2011). Indeed, research has shown that zoo visits can increase knowledge (Falk et al 2007;Khalil and Ardoin 2011;Moss et al 2014). A recent worldwide survey of over 6000 participants found an increase in biodiversity understanding as well as awareness of actions that could be taken to protect biodiversity from the beginning to the end of the zoo visit (Moss et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public Support for Biodiversity After a Zoo Visit: Environmental Concern, Conservation Knowledge, and Self‐Efficacy

Clayton¹,

Prévot²,

Germain³

et al. 2017

Curator The Museum Journal

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The biodiversity crisis is not salient to many people. A zoo visit not only provides the opportunity to learn about the issue, but also provides direct experiences with animals that may increase public engagement. The present study used a nonequivalent pretest-posttest design to assess the impact of a zoo visit on conservation knowledge and engagement by comparing 88 visitors entering a zoo in Paris and 84 visitors on their way out. Those who had completed their visit scored higher on conservation knowledge, general concern about threats to biodiversity, and perceived self-efficacy to protect biodiversity. Notably, conservation knowledge was not highly correlated with the other dependent variables, but self-efficacy was significantly correlated with environmental concern, behaviour, and behavioural intent. We conclude that a zoo visit does have a positive impact on knowledge and concern, and by affecting self-efficacy, it has the potential to influence future behavior.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Support for Biodiversity After a Zoo Visit: Environmental Concern, Conservation Knowledge, and Self‐Efficacy

Clayton¹,

Prévot²,

Germain³

et al. 2017

Curator The Museum Journal

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“…In addition, conservation organizations are hesitant to allocate scarce resources to project evaluation, as such a strategy would limit the resources available for project implementation (Bottrill, Hockings, and Possingham 2011;James, Gaston, and Balmford 1999;Keene 2011;Khalil and Ardoin 2011). Finally, although the common goal of most conservation projects is a decrease in the risk of species extinction, changes in extinction risk almost always occur over longer time frames than conservation projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of visitor motivation on the success of environmental education at the Toronto Zoo

Schultz

Joordens

2013

Environmental Education Research

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With the number and scope of environmental challenges continuing to increase, an understanding of the effectiveness of conservation programs is essential in order to allocate limited resources. This paper examines the effectiveness of environmental education within a zoo setting, focusing on the role of learners' identity-related motivation. Results from survey (n = 296) and interview (n = 116) data collected from visitors to the Toronto Zoo suggest that education success is dependent on visitors' dominant motivation, with preliminary data suggesting that Spiritual Pilgrims and Experience Seekers demonstrate greater gains in knowledge of environmental issues compared with Facilitators. Given that most zoo visitors fell into this Facilitator group, this finding may have an effect on future zoo management decisions. In addition, the proportion of visitors falling into each motivation group was significantly different than those previously found in the United States ( p = 0.05), suggesting that zoo education strategies developed internationally may not be directly transferable to the Toronto Zoo.

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“…Free-choice learning, that which occurs outside of formal education, is addressed in this study. In particular, the relationship between visitor characteristics and their environmental learning during a visit to an educational leisure setting remains an important focus area in the literature Khalil & Ardoin, 2011;Ogden & Heimlich, 2009). As learning outcomes represent the unique combination of what a visitor brings to a facility and their experiences while at the facility, it is clear that a better understanding of these factors is essential if learning through leisure experiences is to be optimised (Ardoin, Wheaton, Bowers, Hunt, & Durham, 2015;Falk, Ballantyne, Packer, & Benckendorff, 2012).…”

Section: The Research Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the early days, education evaluation came in the form of visitor assessments of the acquisition of facts and scientific concepts (Ballantyne, 2004;Marinier, 1988). As education programmes evolved, so too did evaluation change from simply assessing visitor acquisition of facts to attempting to measure changes in attitude, affect and behaviour (Khalil & Ardoin, 2011).…”

Section: Visitor Research In Zoos and Aquariumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

Mann¹

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Zoos and aquariums, which are visited by over 700 million people each year, can play a vital role in exposing and sensitising visitors about the importance of environmental conservation and encourage them to engage in environmentally responsible behaviours after their visit. To attract visitors, zoos and aquariums offer a range of experiences that focus on the viewing of live animals. These may include animal presentations, personal interactions between staff and visitors, opportunities to physically interact with the animals and, most commonly, the use of interpretive signage. Most zoo and aquarium experiences are aimed at increasing visitors' awareness of, interest in and concern for environmental issues. To improve the design of visitor experiences, research is needed to evaluate the impact of a visit on visitor environmental learning outcomes, which are a major part of the zoo and aquarium raison

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Programmatic Evaluation in Association of Zoos and Aquariums–Accredited Zoos and Aquariums: A Literature Review

Cited by 26 publications

References 35 publications

Public Support for Biodiversity After a Zoo Visit: Environmental Concern, Conservation Knowledge, and Self‐Efficacy

Public Support for Biodiversity After a Zoo Visit: Environmental Concern, Conservation Knowledge, and Self‐Efficacy

The effect of visitor motivation on the success of environmental education at the Toronto Zoo

Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

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