Women's Backpacking Trip Added!
Due to high demand our Oct. Women's Backpack Trip is
full so we've added another
trip Sept. 10-12. Sign up
quickly to secure your spot! Click here
for details.

Tremont Homecoming Fundraiser
The evening includes dinner,
activities, entertainment
and a silent auction all
benefitting Tremont. Click here
for more information.

Tremont Events
Workshops, hikes, camping trips
and more!
View the 2010-2011 calendar.

Plans to Improve Tremont
Click here to learn more from Tremont
about the Environmental Assessment
that the park released on improving our facilities.

Tremont eNews
Email us to sign up for our
bi-weekly enewsletter including Tremont and park information and articles
by our naturalists.

Walker Valley Reflections
The Spring Edition of our newsletter is now available online. In this edition: 2009
Annual Report, articles from our naturalists, information on upcoming events, and more! View online.

Teachers

K-12 School Programs
    Planning Your Trip
    Curriculum
    Forms
    The Arts at Tremont

College Programs

Teacher Training
    Smoky Mountain
      Science Teacher
      Institute
    Teacher Escape
      Weekend
    Birds
    Climate Change
    Ecology
    Interpretation
    Lichens
    Mammals
    Naturalist Skills
    Plants
    Reptiles

Evaluating Tremont's
    Impact

More than just a field trip . . .

In the past, environmental educators have struggled with finding ways to measure the impact of their programs.  With the help of the Alcoa Foundation, Tremont has been able to institute a culture of evaluation and truly measure what we accomplish each day. 

The following report – More Than Just A Field Trip - Connecting Students & Nature – identifies some of the compelling results from our evaluation study, which focused on the thousands of students who attend our residential school programs each year.  Our results showed a significant increase in all of our measured indices. 

“Students leave Tremont with an enhanced understanding of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a heightened interest in learning, a deeper feeling of connection with nature, and a greater willingness to act as good stewards of the environment.”


download the study

The study was developed by Marc J. Stern, Robert B. Powell and Nicole M. Ardoin, who worked with Tremont's staff to devise and implement measurements. A report detailing this study was published in "The Journal of Environmental Education" in 2008, and can be downloaded below:

What Difference Does It Make?
Assessing Outcomes From Participation
in a Residential Environmental Education Program

The Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 39, no. 4, p. 31 - 43, Summer 2008.
Reprinted with permission of the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation.
Published by Heldref Publications, 1319 Eighteenth St.,
NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802. Copyright © 2008.


Tremont’s colleagues across the nation are now looking to us as leaders in developing an evaluation system that measures the impacts that our mission espouses – appreciation of the Smokies, celebration of diversity and fostering stewardship.

Other Resources

Summary of findings (pdf document)

Tremont Curriculum Evaluation Results slideshow(opens new window)

This project was made possible by funding from the ALCOA Foundation and in partnership with the National Park Service.





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