Measuring the impact of an in-school zoo education programme

Abstract

The evaluation of the educational impact of zoos and aquariums is a growing area of research. This study attempted to measure the impact of an in-school zoo education outreach programme run by Chester Zoo, UK. Specifically, this programme delivered multiple workshops under a common conservation sub-theme to the same group of students within the Key Stage 2 year groups (ages 7 to 11; n=199). A repeated-measures survey was used as the primary instrument for assessing impact. The headline findings were that the programme correlated with a positive, measurable and statistically significant impact in the student learners, particularly in terms of conservation-related knowledge but also student attitude to conservation and zoo-related issues.