College of Letters & Science
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/37
The College of Letters and Science, the largest center for learning, teaching and research at Montana State University, offers students an excellent liberal arts and sciences education in nearly 50 majors, 25 minors and over 25 graduate degrees within the four areas of the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences.
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Item Students as agents of change: An environmental health intervention for American Indian Youth(Montana State Univeristy, 2017-04) Milakovich, JessElementary school students have the capacity to share knowledge with their caregivers, peers, and community. While previous research suggests that children can successfully act as change agents for health, empirical evidence is lacking. This study explores the transfer of knowledge between elementary school students and their parents during and after a 5-day summer camp focused on water-related environmental health. This study was part of a larger community-based participatory research project in the Crow community. We conducted open-ended interviews with caregivers. Questions focused on what their child had shared with them, and to what degree they had participated in camp related take-home activities. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that children can serve as agents of change relaying information to parents. Children shared knowledge, and demonstrated attitude and behavior changes related to environmental health as a result of the camp. The overarching community context impacts how children share knowledge, and experience attitude and behavior changes. This context and evidence of the reciprocal relationships between caregivers and their children support that children did act as agents of change for environmental health, or 'Guardians of the Living Water'.Item Development and implementation of an environmental health literacy facilitator's guide: Integrating Western and Indigenous science for American Indian youth(Montana State Univeristy, 2017-04) LaVeaux, DebEnvironmental Health Literacy (EHL) includes the understanding of the actions one can take to reduce their health risks and protect their water and environment. Improving health literacy at an early age by focusing on skills related to protecting water quality in their environment may provide an opportunity for youth, their families, and their community to critically evaluate environmental risks and take actions to protect their health. This presentation will describe the process used to design and implement a community-based participatory research EHL intervention for elementary school youth living on a Northern Plains American Indian reservation. The Guardians of the Living Water facilitator's guide was designed to increase 4th grade students' water-related EHL skills. The guide was co-developed and co-implemented by university and community partners, integrating western and indigenous science, tribal research data and published learning activities. Students attending the summer camp and after-school sessions participated in hands-on activities, field trips, and learned from community member guest speakers. The development and implementation of the guide has been an iterative participatory process, consisting of facilitator training, activity assessment and evaluation, and learning objective clarification. Direct involvement of tribal cultural leaders and elementary teachers have been important components to the curriculum development, revision and implementation. The collaborating partners continue to revise the intervention components to further incorporate the EHL model components into the current after school and upcoming summer camp venues.