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The environmental education through filmmaking project

The environmental education through filmmaking project, a case study at an alternative US public high school, investigates environmental literacies of ‘at-risk’ students who produced two short documentary films, one on recycling and one on water conservation. The filmmaking project sought to promote students’ awareness of environmental issues and increase their environmental literacy by exploring the conservation topics on multiple levels: carrying out research for their films, conducting interviews, and operating camera equipment. After completing the projects, we conducted focus group interviews with two control groups and two filmmaking groups and analyzed students’ responses using coded qualitative methodology to develop three theoretical constructs: (1) students’ construct knowledge about the environment through social processes that include interrelated influences from school, family, and the media; (2) apathy about the environment is common among ‘at-risk’ high school students who perceive their school culture does not focus on environmental education; and (3) students more readily adopt environmentally responsible behaviors when provided with opportunities to develop their own understanding of connections between personal actions and associated environmental consequences. Qualitative analysis of the focus group interview responses suggests filmmaking projects provided such opportunities and were successful in introducing strategies that encourage environmentally responsible behaviors amongst students.