{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.021422450728363324, 'fraction_numerical': 0.00856898029134533, 'mean_word_length': 5.870588235294117, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Enhancing college students’ environmental sensibilities through online nature journaling

The increasing alienation of today’s children from the environment has been termed ‘nature-deficit disorder’. Research suggests this disconnect can adversely impact young people’s physical and psychological well-being. This paper explores whether online multimedia journaling about nature can increase the amount of time students spend outdoors, enhancing their environmental awareness and changing their nature-related perceptions. Students in a 60-person introductory environmental studies course at a large midwestern public university in the United States completed weekly online multimedia nature journals for one semester. A survey assessed their experiences. The median survey respondent spent an additional 11–20 minutes outdoors weekly. Seventy-four percent of respondents said that the project increased their awareness of nature, 68% said it changed the way they thought about nature, and 56% said it increased their interest in spending time outdoors. Though these findings are promising, there are some theoretical reasons for questioning their depth and duration.