Readability and environmental education

Term

2013

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAED: NSEE

Abstract

Much information comes in the form of the written word. Quite a bit of research has been done in the medical field to ensure that patients understand medical documents, but very little has been done in the environmental field to confirm that citizens understand environmental literature. Readability is a way of looking at a document and determining how difficult it is to understand. When environmental literature is analyzed, the readability scores indicate that most of the population would have difficulty understanding the text. This capstone asks if readability level does affect understanding. To test this, a survey consisting of reading samples and comprehension questions was given to students and adults of a rural community and the results were examined. Thankfully for the environmental education community, readability scores do not affect understanding, but certain background knowledge and clearly stating information do have an effect on how well people understand environmental issues.

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