Cultural probes for environmental education: Designing learning materials to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity

including their crossings and layerings with urban, industrial and polluted spaces"—Saari and Mullen referring to Garrard [51]. Such places are as important in the promotion of biodiversity conservation as pristine ones. They might generate a host of different thoughts and experi- ences on behalf of children and teenagers that are nonetheless relevant. Of course, this does not exclude the value that nature-rich environments provide to humans and how their impact on physical and psychological well-being is vital to their conservation [49]. The CP literature, concepts drawn from IBL and the value of sensory, emotional, and aes- thetic experiences in EE were paramount in the design of an appropriate CP for FG and the present study. Nonetheless, we derive certain key practical implications that support the crea- tion and application of CP in the context of EE, as follows: 1. Create probes that balance information regarding nature-rich environments with opportu- nities to experience nature through imagination and the senses directly. 2. Ground the design of CP in relevant pedagogical framework, such as inquiry-based learning. 3. If using IBL, consider participants’ experience with questioning and inquiry, and devise probes that support prior experience or lack thereof. 4. Provide genuine opportunities for feedback without saturating participants with requests for information through questioning. In this instance, subtle integration is key. Limitations and future work Our study was limited in time and participant numbers. We recruited participants through

two local Scout groups, thereby assembling a convenience sample even though participant demographics align with the project’s target audience: local school-aged children and teenag- ers (ages 10 to 18). In addition, when conducting the study, we did not have prior information regarding participants’ knowledge of the local environment. Despite this, as we walked the trail, notes from the research team suggest that even though exposure to the outdoors is crucial to Scouts’ activities, participants appeared to know little about local and native species and had little experience on nature trails. For most, this was their first visit to the trail. Furthermore, we were aware that word association exercises could pose challenges. The qualitative nature of the activity demands a capacity on the part of researchers to interpret par- ticipants’ subjective responses. However, we were also aware that such exercise could elicit more deep-seated and personal interpretations of the activity which are valuable for future design [52]. We were confident that the trade-off would be worthwhile. As well, we did not want to risk breaking the flow of the activity with a post-activity questionnaire or interview. Thus, the creation of stations with accompanying exercises designed to encourage free-word association was deemed optimal. Nonetheless, we recognize that supplementary reflection on the activity could further substantiate some of our claims. Continuous exposure to the CP technique in the context of EE is essential to draw more

robust conclusions regarding all three research questions. Despite this, we can say in hindsight that a question-based strategy provided research participants with a rich experience during data-gathering. We retrieved a high number of questions (168 in total), suggesting that ques- tioning could be a rich topic for the discussion of CP within the context of EE. Conclusion The purpose of this paper was to present a research method to EE; in doing so, we experi- mented with the CP technique, a qualitative research strategy that holds potential for involving PLOS ONE Cultural probes for environmental education PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262853 February 10, 2022 26 / 30