Abstract This study explored the relationships between student background and academic performance in college introductory environmental science (ES) courses at a large U.S. research university with the premise that this analysis may inform teaching practices, curricula, and efforts to increase retention. We surveyed over 700 students across eleven introductory ES courses and used multiple linear mixed-effects regressions to model the data. We found that students who grew up in rural settings or who had frequent childhood interactions with natural environments earned higher grades, on average, than students from urban settings or with fewer childhood interactions with natural environments. Our results indicate that students reporting frequent childhood interactions with forests, for example, were projected to earn grades up to 1.5 letter grades higher in these courses than students with no such interactions. In addition, students with frequent childhood interactions with nature were likelier to report that such interactions helped them in their ES course, suggesting that these students may recognize the value of these experiences. Greater interest in the subject matter also correlated with higher ES course grades, whereas amount of prior ES coursework did not. We discuss the possible implications of these correlations for ES academic performance and educational practice.

中文翻译：

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童年环境和与自然的互动对大学环境科学入门课程学业成绩的影响

摘要 本研究探讨了美国一所大型研究型大学环境科学导论 (ES) 课程中学生背景与学业成绩之间的关系，前提是该分析可为教学实践、课程和提高保留率的努力提供信息。我们对 11 门 ES 入门课程中的 700 多名学生进行了调查，并使用多元线性混合效应回归对数据进行建模。我们发现，与来自城市环境或童年与自然环境互动较少的学生相比，在农村环境中长大或在童年时期经常与自然环境互动的学生的平均成绩更高。我们的结果表明，例如，报告童年与森林频繁互动的学生预计将获得高达 1 的成绩。这些课程的成绩比没有此类互动的学生高 5 个字母。此外，童年时期经常与大自然互动的学生更有可能报告说，这种互动对他们的 ES 课程有帮助，这表明这些学生可能会认识到这些经历的价值。对主题的更大兴趣也与更高的 ES 课程成绩相关，而之前 ES 课程的数量则没有。我们讨论了这些相关性对 ES 学业成绩和教育实践的可能影响。对主题的更大兴趣也与更高的 ES 课程成绩相关，而之前 ES 课程的数量则没有。我们讨论了这些相关性对 ES 学业成绩和教育实践的可能影响。对主题的更大兴趣也与更高的 ES 课程成绩相关，而之前 ES 课程的数量则没有。我们讨论了这些相关性对 ES 学业成绩和教育实践的可能影响。