Things to Think About...
One of the overarching goals of education is to prepare students to become effective decision makers. As consumers, citizens, voters, and family members, students will spend their lives making choices among possible actions. Part of an educators responsibility is teaching students to identify and clarify their own opinions. Educators must help students learn decision-making processes-identifying and evaluating options, selecting a corresponding course of action, taking action, reflecting on their choices, and adjusting as needed to accomplish their goals. A critical component of decision-making is the sense of self efficacy or developing students' confidence in their ability to affect change in their surroundings. Environmental educators must take care not to direct students to any particular opinions or courses of action, but to empower students to think and act for themselves on environmental issues.

Through the "Water You Know?" unit described in Objective 8 under Key Charactersitic 3, students would develop a series of skills while learning about and evaluating water resources and related issues in their community. The focus in Key Characteristic #3 was on building skills; in Key Characteristic #4, the focus is on applying those skills to real world situations.

The opportunity for students to look back on what was done in an action project is a critical part of the learning process. Students must determine whether their actions achieved their goals, exploring what mistakes where made, what lessons were learned, and what they might have done differently to improve the experience or its results. Students must learn to reflect honestly on what they have done, without self-consciousness or fear of criticism. Evaluation of this type is a crucial step for students to develop self-efficacy.