Episodic and Semantic Memories of a Residential Environmental Education Program

This study used a phenomenological approach to investigate the recollections of participants of an environmental education (EE) residential program. Ten students who participated in a residential EE program in the fall of 2001 were interviewed in the fall of 2002. Three major themes relating to the participants' long-term memory of the residential EE program were identified: (a) recollections were highly influenced by actions taken by the students; (b) program content/subject matter was retained by all of the students to varying degrees; and (c) emotional reactions to the experience were present. The results seem to support the notion that active experiences have an important role in episodic recall. Results also suggest semantic memory was achieved. The authors offer a potential model of learning for residential EE programs that is structured on episodic/semantic memory systems and is reflective of the results of this study as well as current research in cognitive sciences.