Is the Leave No Trace Trainer Course Really Effective?

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has developed a variety of printed educational materials and training programs to communicate Leave No Trace practices and ethics for over a decade. There has been little research, however, to evaluate how well these messages are absorbed and used by outdoor visitors. Dr. Jeff Marion and Melissa Daniels completed and published a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2-day Leave No Trace Trainer course in order to document and evaluate participants' gain and retention of knowledge, ethics, and reported behavior.

The questionnaires were developed based on the most current Leave No Trace information available in the Leave No Trace Skills & Ethics booklet series and Trainer course materials. Over a five month period, the researchers advertised their study through the database of Master Educators, contacted those who were offering Trainer courses, and asked if they were interested in participating in the study. In all, there were 20 courses that distributed pre-course and post-course questionnaires to the participants; an additional follow-up survey was conducted with these participants 4-5 months later. The researchers received a total of 166 pre-course, 156 post-course, and 112 follow-up surveys.

The Results:

The knowledge section contained 25 items, each counted as correct or incorrect and scored on a 100-point scale. The mean score for all knowledge test items improved significantly from a mean pre-course score of 70 to a post-course score of 82. There was a slight 3-point drop from post-course to follow-up, but the long-term change, pre to follow-up, remained statistically significant. Of the 25 knowledge questions, 17 showed significant improvement pre to post, with the greatest improvements in items related to repacking food, traveling off-trail, and scattering ashes. There were no significant declines pre to post.

The ethics section contained 16 items for which participants rated their agreement on a seven-point scale. These showed a similar pattern to knowledge for overall mean scores. Ethics scores for the pre-course survey were fairly high—5.8 on a scale of one to seven—and improved significantly on the post-course survey. The follow-up showed a significant decline from the post-course survey, but there was still a significant improvement pre- to follow-up.

Reported behavior was assessed at two points in time—pre-course and follow-up. These ten items had three possible responses and space for comments. Responses were scored as one, two, or three based on use of the most acceptable Leave No Trace practice. All mean scores for the items were above the middle response of 2, indicating that most respondents chose the most appropriate or second-most appropriate behavior, even prior to the course.

Summary:

The evaluation of the Trainer course curriculum indicates that it is successful in promoting Leave No Trace practices to participants. Research results revealed statistically significant improvement in Leave No Trace knowledge, ethics and outdoor practices both immediately following the course and 4-5 months later. Findings support the contention that improved Leave No Trace knowledge and ethics lead to the adoption of low impact practices.

For more information or to download the study and the questionnaire, please visit http://lnt.org/training/lntrelatedresearch.php