Australian postgraduate theses in interpretation, tour guiding, and environmental education

This research note presents a summary of a project that reviewed Australian postgraduate theses/dissertations completed to date on interpretation, tour guiding, and environmental education in Australia as one indicator of the state of research in these fields and as a basis for comparison with other countries. An inventory of 120 doctoral and masters-level theses completed in these three general topic areas found that nearly three-quarters were in environmental education, with two Australian states and two universities responsible for a disproportionate number of these. Projects relating to high school environmental education and studies of specific countries were prominent, while specific parks and nature-based settings dominated interpretation research. Australian social, political, and environmental factors help to explain the decline in masters and growth in doctoral research, and the shifts in topical focus over the 30-year period. Implications for both research and professional practice in interpretation are presented.