Place Attachment Inventory (PAI)
Steven Semken
,
Arizona State University
This is an experimental psychometric instrument that measures an individual's attachment to specific or general places, by means of two dimensions: self-identification with a place, and the capacity of the place to support a person's activities or goals. The 12 items used in the PAI were devised, normed, and validated by Williams and Vaske (2003) and adapted for use in geoscience courses by Semken and Piburn (2004, 2005).
What learning is this evaluation activity designed to assess?
The PAI is intended to measure place attachment, which is an affective (emotional) response to places that may influence geoscience learning, and which may vary with factors such as ethnicity, culture, and experience. The items on the last page survey race, ethnicity, and gender (as self-identified) for purposes of correlation.
What is the nature of the teaching/learning situation for which your evaluation has been designed?
The 12 Williams and Vaske items are highly generalizable, so this instrument is potentially adaptable to diverse course environments (and places). At ASU, we are currently using it in:
- large-enrollment intro-geology lecture courses
- post-graduate science courses for in-service teachers
- education workshops of various types (students and faculty)
- large-enrollment intro-geology lecture courses
- post-graduate science courses for in-service teachers
- education workshops of various types (students and faculty)
What advice would you give others using this evaluation?
- Note that most literature on sense of place theory and place attachment is in the fields of environmental psychology, rural sociology, and cultural geography.
- Be wary of potential issues of cultural conflict when administering this survey; consult all appropriate review boards.
- Make sure the items dealing with gender, race, and ethnicity are always placed at the end of the survey, and discourage subjects from flipping ahead to these items before responding to the place-attachment items.
- Be wary of potential issues of cultural conflict when administering this survey; consult all appropriate review boards.
- Make sure the items dealing with gender, race, and ethnicity are always placed at the end of the survey, and discourage subjects from flipping ahead to these items before responding to the place-attachment items.
Are there particular things about this evaluation that you would like to discuss with the workshop participants? Particular aspects on which you would like feedback?
- Is anyone else working on measurement of affective responses, or interested in place theory?
Evaluation Materials
- Place Attachment Inventory (ASU) 1.3 (Acrobat (PDF) 59kB May3 05)
- Sense of Place and Place-Based Geoscience Teaching, JGE v. 53, 2005. (Acrobat (PDF) 18.6MB May3 05)
