An Environmental Science Institute for Teachers
Abstract
| Middle school teachers often lack pedagogical,
conceptual, and informational knowledge for effective use of environmental
issues in science teaching. Yet there is increasing realization that
local environmental issues provide an excellent approach to teaching science
using a context that is relevant to students and teachers. ENVISION
is an environmental science institute to prepare middle school leadership
teams that are knowledgeable of: environmental concepts and issues; inquiry
skills for investigating environmental issues; appropriate curricular,
pedagogical, and assessment practices for teaching science within studies
of local environmental issues; and ways to develop educational partnerships
with local government, industry, and business. Each leadership team
utilizes the NRC Standards and Benchmarks as tools for developing a standards-based
environmental science program. The project targets middle school
leadership teams composed of four science teachers from within a school
district. Each year 20 leadership teams are involved in the project
reaching a total of 320 teachers. The project incorporates pre-institute
workshops, summer institutes, and academic year workshops implemented over
4 years. Other unique features of the project are: a master
teacher in residence, practitioners as professional, site visits, Internet-based
participant communication, participant-industry partnerships, and prior
year participants as mentors for new participants. Project evaluation
involves the assessment of the professional development program, change
in teachers' practice, and change in students' science understandings.
The pre-institute workshop stimulates teachers to prepare for the summer institute by investigating environmental issues in their own school district, examining their pedagogy and science curriculum, and investigating their students' understandings about environmental concepts. The academic year workshops provide additional instruction and support on science content, pedagogy, and assessment, as well as engage participants in sharing and reflecting on their new teaching approaches, using videotapes of their classroom practice and student performance data. Practitioners as professionals involve the teachers as educational leaders conducting local staff-development programs and making conference presentations. Site visits promote reflection on practice and the exchange of pedagogical and assessment ideas, and will be conducted by the master teacher in residence. The summer institutes emphasize science concepts as a foundation for investigating environmental issues and developing teachers' inquiry skills, as well as their inquiry, issues, and computer-based pedagogy. Participants will evaluate curricular and instructional resources for teaching environmental concepts and issues, as well as alternative assessment tools. Scientific concepts, pedagogy, and ways to integrate local government, industry, and business into environmental case studies are presented through a series of hands-on studies. Each summer four past participants return as mentors to collaborate with the next teacher cohort. This provides an opportunity for new teachers to learn from the experiences of past participants, as well as from a resident master teacher. The project enhances participants':
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