The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate how effectively the annual MCCCD Earth Forward Summit, held at Estrella Mountain Community College this year, supported student learning outcomes related to environmental literacy, sustainability awareness, extracurricular engagement and knowledge of external internship, volunteer and job opportunities in the fields of life science, sustainability and conservation. Specifically, the assessment aims to 1) evaluate overall participation and feedback on the event 2) determine whether participation in the event helped student to engage meaningfully with sustainability practices and community partners.
Each year, the theme and hosting college for Earth Forward changes. This was the first year that this event has been held at Estrella Mountain Community College and therefore this assessment serves as an initial evaluation of student, and campus, engagement in the event. This year’s theme was wildlife, sustainability and conservation in the Southwest, specifically “Living Desert-Where Nature, Culture and Sustainability Converge”. EMCC faculty, and students, have particularly strong connections and interests in these areas and as such the primary goal of the event was to provide students with significant opportunities to interact and engage with community partners in related fields.
Interest in experiential learning is rapidly growing among students at EMCC. Undergraduate research experiences, extracurricular clubs, and interest in learning about and securing volunteer, internship and career opportunities is quickly expanding and there is an increasing need to provide students with connections in these areas. Campus events, such as Earth Forward, that engage students with external opportunities beyond the classroom are essential for providing students with meaningful exposure to career paths and knowledge of how to apply what they are learning in their courses to the real world.
This assessment is necessary to ensure that large-scale, experiential learning events, like Earth Forward, are intentionally aligned with academic goals and contribute meaningfully to student learning. As EMCC continues to expand high-impact practices and campus-wide engagement opportunities, it is important to evaluate whether these events move beyond participation and result in measurable learning gains. Additionally, as this was the first year with EMCC hosting the event, this assessment provides valuable insight into its effectiveness and areas for refinement.
The assessment was implemented through a combination of direct and indirect measures tied to student participation in the event. Students engaged in structured and unstructured learning activities, including interacting with exhibitors, attending presentations, and participating in student-led demonstrations and creative showcases. Many faculty also encouraged their classes to attend and offered credit for attendance and completion of a simple “engagement and learning” worksheet (linked below). Evidence of learning was collected through direct observations of attendees, student-generated artifacts (such as photos, notes, and follow-up assignments), and participation in related coursework activities. Additionally, estimates of event attendance were performed visually during the exhibitor and speaker portion of the day, and based on lunches served mid-event. The event itself provided multiple entry points for engagement, including student contributions such as art galleries, poetry readings, sustainability engineering projects, native bee education and habitat demonstrations, repurposing of single-use plastics, and presentations of original student work like the children’s book Estrella: A Wolf’s Journey. Additional involvement included the Animal Ambassador Outreach Program and student media documentation efforts.
Results and feedback from students, staff and exhibitors indicate that student participation and engagement exceeded expectations. Students demonstrated strong interest and involvement across a variety of activities, interacting with community partners and connecting event experiences to assignments given completed in their courses. The diversity of student-led contributions highlighted interdisciplinary learning and creativity, with students applying concepts related to biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability in meaningful ways.
A wide range of student contributions enriched the event and confirmed student engagement, including:
- A professional gallery of Southwest-inspired paintings, drawings, photography and writing pieces (50+ submissions in total)
- Poetry readings aligned with the event theme
- Presentations on Estrella: A Wolf’s Journey, an upcoming children’s coloring book (50 copies printed and distributed at the event
- Sustainability-focused student engineering projects
- Educational activities and research talks on the importance of native bees, led by student researchers
- Participation from the Animal Ambassador Community Outreach Program
48 different community and campus-based exhibitors were present for the morning, exhibitor, portion of the day, this is at least double what any previous Earth Forward event has had. During the speaker/presentation portion of the day, three different community speakers presented on their work revolving around wildlife and sustainability (the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, Arizona Public Service, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department), along with presentations from the EMCC BUZZ Native Bee Research Group, a student poet, and the EMCC Art Club. Based on visual estimations of attendance and participation and lunches distributed, we estimated about 200-250 student attendees throughout the day. Though, this number is difficult to completely accurate on, as some students attended for 10-15 minutes while moving between classes and others stayed for several hours or the entire event.
Student, faculty, staff, and exhibitor feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive and students in particular note significant opportunities for interaction with wildlife and conservation agencies and new information gained. Below are some student quotes from completed class assignments:
- “I learned a lot at this event, most notably about local pollinators here in Arizona. There was an insect-focused booth with a variety of pollinators where the vendor talked to us about how the “prettier plants” sold at big-box stores often provide no support for the local ecosystem”
- “Overall, the event was an inspiring look at how education and technology can help build a more resilient future for the Sonoran Desert.”
- “I thought the Save the Bees volunteer program was really cool, only because it reminded me of the conservation project we did on the bees. So it was like our idea, but in real life.”
- “I also learned at the White Tanks conservation exhibit that they have an open volunteer program and are making strides to retain desert wildlife. I enjoyed the white tanks conservation table a lot as they went over the importance of retaining desert wildlife and were very welcoming.”
- “My favorite table was the wildflower booth. I really enjoyed learning about the importance of specific species of milkweed to the environment and how others may be harmful to the monarch and king butterflies. Additionally, that same table highlighted ways to identify different, similar appearing butterflies that migrate in an area, which I felt was especially cool because it applies to my daily life.”
The above student quotes are just a small selection from assignments collected, but highlight the impact of the various booths and speakers on student knowledge of internship and volunteer opportunities in the area, the diversity of the Southwest in general, and the role that Earth Forward played in exposing students to these topics. Additionally, the selected quotes, and many others, highlight the strong benefit that events, like Earth Forward, that happen outside of the classroom and allow students to explore course concepts beyond the curriculum, have on student interest and retention of knowledge.
This assessment evaluates the effectiveness of the 2026 Earth Forward Event, hosted at Estrella Mountain Community College, in supporting student learning related to environmental literacy, sustainability, and engagement with career pathways in life sciences and conservation. The event provided a large-scale, experiential learning opportunity centered on the theme “Living Desert: Where Nature, Culture and Sustainability Converge.” Using a combination of direct observations, student artifacts, participation tracking, and feedback, results indicate that student engagement and participation exceeded expectations, with approximately 200–250 attendees and 48 exhibitors contributing to a highly interactive learning environment. Students demonstrated meaningful connections between course content and real-world applications, particularly through interactions with community partners and participation in diverse student-led activities. Feedback highlighted increased awareness of local environmental issues, internship and volunteer opportunities, and the value of hands-on learning experiences. Overall, the event proved to be a high-impact educational practice that supports interdisciplinary learning and student engagement. Given that this was the first time EMCC has hosted this event, it was a huge success. However, results do reveal opportunities for improved structure, assessment, and integration with coursework in future iterations.
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| earth-forward-flyer3926.pdf | 711.71 KB |