Michael Weinstein, a 2021 graduate of the PhD in Environmental Studies program at Antioch’s New England campus, has written and published a dissertation, Exploring the Potential of Online Education and College Students’ Connection to Nature.
There is limited research examining the efficacy of online delivery for experiential, field-based, interdisciplinary coursework in environmental education for undergraduate students, and how connection to nature can be understood through the theory of emerging adulthood. Weinstein’s research employed a convergent mixed methods approach to explore the experiences of 11 undergraduate students enrolled in an online, introductory ecology course, how their experience of connection to nature was influenced through the course, technology-mediated nature embedded within the course, and how their identities as emerging adults were impacted by their connection to nature.
Weinstein used quantitative methods such as pre/post surveys, and qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews and reflective journal assignments. Weinstein’s research demonstrates specific cognitive components of nature connection that may be delivered effectively in online education, while student attention is drawn to the affective components of nature connection that technology may not deliver. This research suggests that the ability of information technology to provide novel insights about ecological connections can be leveraged to increase conceptual understanding of environmental functioning and issues. Findings from this study illustrate the importance of connection to nature in shaping the identities of emerging adults, and the results can be applied broadly to programmatic development in college-level environmental education, as well as online environmental education for various audiences.
The founding Director of the Office of Sustainability at Southern New Hampshire University, Weinstein has over a decade of teaching experience, in everything from fine arts to social leadership to global climate change. In 2017 he established the SNHU Arboretum, the first internationally accredited arboretum in New Hampshire. He has received the Online Learning Consortium’s “Innovative Practice” Award and Insights Into Diversity’s “Inspiring Programs in STEM” Award for his work connecting online learners with this forest space and their own natural environments. He is a combat veteran, serving with the 101st Airborne Division as an infantry medic, and an AmeriCorps VISTA alum. In addition to his PhD in Environmental Studies, he holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from New England College, a BS in Environmental Science, and an MS in Data Analytics from SNHU.
Read and download Weinstein’s dissertation, Exploring the Potential of Online Education and College Students’ Connection to Nature.
