Evaluating Adult Groundwater Education

The Michigan Association of Soil Conservation Districts and the Michigan Soil Conservation Service organized a series of 1-day groundwater education workshops throughout Michigan. The workshops were held primarily to educate soil conservation personnel. The effect of the training on participant knowledge and attitude was measured with a quasi-experimental design. Three workshops were evaluated. Only 1 workshop was effective in increasing participants' knowledge of groundwater. All 3 workshops, however, were effective in increasing the pretested participants' knowledge of groundwater. The workshops did not change participants' attitudes toward groundwater conservation, but attitudes were already positive at the outset. The practical recommendation is that a pretest should be incorporated into adult groundwater training to effect immediate results.