SENSE OF PLACE, EMOTIONS, AND INTERPRETATION: LEVERAGING NATIONAL PARK INFORMAL EDUCATION TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE GEOSCIENCE LITERACY

Sense of place literature emphasizes the power of context and affect to produce both greater content understanding and stewardship attitudes in learners. Interpretive theory mirrors this idea by encouraging the development of informal education programs that provide both intellectual and emotional opportunities for visitors to connect with natural resources in National Park settings. A study probing the affective dimensions of visitor response to geoscience-themed interpretive programs at 12 different National Parks and Monuments converged on six strategies for stimulating emotions with respect to geologic content. These include: connecting directly to provocative geoscience concepts such as time, dynamic processes, and rare phenomena; mediating a geologic connection with human relevance; cultivating a link between aesthetic admiration and geologic process comprehension; using biophilia to generate appreciation of biotic-abiotic connections; focusing on personal meanings associated with places; and acknowledging the importance of tangible or kinesthetic experience. Both interpreters and formal educators developing place-based courses can benefit from application of these techniques.