Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Robert B. Powell

Committee Member

Dr. Marc J. Stern

Committee Member

Dr. Stefanie A. Ruiz

Abstract

Organizations, including non-profit and government agencies such as the National Park Service and nature centers, that provide informal education (also known as interpretation) seek ways to achieve their mission and enhance their organizational performance (Anderson et al., 2022; Weiler & Ham, 2010). For informal education organizations that provide interpretation to visitors, one measure of organizational performance is the achievement of an organization’s desired visitor outcomes. Theory suggests that positive organizational performance is associated with positive workplace management conditions and high employee motivation. Thus, this study explored the relationships between interpreters’ perceptions of workplace management conditions, motivation, and performance on interpretive programs at 48 US National Park Service sites by surveying interpreters regarding workplace conditions and visitors regarding outcomes immediately following 203 interpretive programs. The results of this study suggest that workplace management conditions influence employee motivation. However, neither motivation nor workplace management conditions were found to influence visitor outcomes from interpretive programs.

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