This presentation focuses on education evaluation research on forestry webinars. This presentation was given at the NY Society of American Foresters Conference, January 2010, Syracuse, NY.

1. Shorna Broussard Allred Richard Stedman Ashley Dayer Peter Smallidge Assessing the Educational Impact of the Sustainable Woodlands Webinar Series New York Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting, January 27-29, 2010 Syracuse, NY

3. Serve an audience constrained by time or geography

5. Efficacy of Distance Learning Distance learning that offers a high level of interaction is more effective than distance learning lacking that element (McCann 2007). Knowledge and skills gained through distance education courses were often applied after the course (Jones et al. 2007). Learning modules offering a high level of interaction and that are rich in multi-media are more effective than those that are not (McCann 2007)

7. No need to travel

8. Cost-effectiveness

9. Ability to share ideas with others not from the participant’s area

10. Access to current informationLippertet al. 1998, 1999, 2000 Inability to interact face-to-face with instructors and peers Distractions in vicinity Internet access problems Lack of time to participate Inability to see demonstrations Lippert et al. 1998, 1999, 2000 Pros and Cons of Online Learning

11. Rationale for Current Study Lack of empirical evaluations of on-line distance learning impacts in the forestry education literature Most evaluations of on-line distance learning education programs occur during or after the program (few that measure knowledge before and after) Role of on-line distance learning in forestry education, especially as it relates to awareness and behavior

12. Sustainable Forestry Principles Contribute to the Conservation of Biological Diversity of the Forest and the Landscape in Which it Resides Maintain or Improve Productive Capacity Maintain the Health and Vigor of the Forest and its Landscape/Watershed Protect Soil and Water Resources Consider Carbon Cycles Consider Socio-Economic Benefits and Impacts Comply with Laws and Legally Adopted Rules and Implement Applicable Guidelines in States Not Using the Regulatory Approach

13. Research Objectives 1) Determine baseline levels of awareness in relation to specific webinar topics and general sustainable principles and compare to post-webinar levels of awareness in relation to webinar topics and sustainable forestry 2) Determine the influence of webinar participation on information-seeking and forest conservation behaviors

14. Research Methodology Design and implement a 6-part Webinar Series on Sustainable Forestry (as part of ForestConnect series) Pre and Post Test (Web Survey) Tailored Design Method (Dillman et al. 2009) Pre-test administered immediately preceding webinar (RR=85.3%) Post-test administered 6 weeks following last webinar (RR=62.1%) Survey Topics Woodland owner attitudes Awareness of webinar topics Behavior

15. Study Measures Awareness Self-assessments of awareness related to webinar topics Feel informed about___ Know the characteristics of_____ Can identify practices____ Understand why __ is important Understand how____ Aware of how to seek information about ___ Aware of tools___ Aware of different strategies/alternatives for ____ Pre-test Cronbach’s α=0.83-0.95 Post-test Cronbach’s α=0.86-0.95

16. Study Measures Behavior Information-seeking Gather more information on the topic Explore resources from webinar Take another class Talk to others about topic Teach others what learned about topic Teaching others who manage forests

18. Woodland Management Activities

19. Create or change management plan

20. Conduct inventory

21. Adopt or change practice related to harvest

22. Adopt or change practice related to overall forest management

23. Adopt or change practice related to soil or water management

24. Engage in collaboration with adjacent landowners

25. Work more with family on family forest planning

26. Seek a professional forester’s advice related to woodland

27. Pursue certification for woodland

28. Behavior

30. “Sustainable Woodlands” Webinar Series www.SustainableWoodlands.org

33. Webinar Participants 42.8% Woodland Owners 33.3% Foresters 13.1% Educators 13.7% Specialists 9.7% had never attended in-person seminar 67.4% Male 32.6% Female

34. Number of Repeat Webinar Attendees

35. Participants’ Likelihood of Engaging in Woodland Conservation Activities related to Sustainable Forestry Principles

36. Awareness(Pre and Post-Test Results) * * * * * Scale: -2 to +2 * p<.05

37. Participants’ Likelihood of Engaging in Information-Seeking Activities

38. Participants’ Likelihood of Engaging in Woodland Management Activities

40. Age, gender

41. 10% new to forestry education, now receiving regular communications

42. Is this significant?

43. Forestry webinars do influence woodland owners and forestry professionals to seek out more information and potentially learn more

44. Forestry webinars do increase awareness and influence some behaviors

45. Do behavioral intentions lead to actual behavior? Lasting behavior change?

47. srb237@cornell.edu (607) 255-2149 www.human-dimensions.org Shorna Broussard AllredAssociate ProfessorHuman Dimensions of Natural Resources Acknowledgements: Funding provided by a grant from the Sustainable Forests Partnership Thanks to Cornell Undergraduate Research Assistants Laura Wetzel and Michael Roberts for their assistance with this project