The Ocean Science project integrates the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts into a Western Washington region-wide, coordinated program of formal and informal education consisting of: 1. Teacher professional development in the ocean sciences to integrate the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts into inquiry-based marine science education and instruction; 2. Evaluation and re-alignment of existing Sound Science ecosystems curricula into Ocean Science, incorporating NOAA data and promoting the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts; 3. Classroom programs, beach field investigations, and on-site programs at the Seattle Aquarium of the Olympic Coast national Marine Sanctuary's Olympic Coast Discovery Center for grades 4-5 students, their parents and teachers; 4. Parent training in ocean science content, the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and inquiry-based methods for supporting their children's science education; 5. Informal education for the general public via an interactive learning station linked to the Window on Washington Waters exhibit and designed to innovatively use NOAA data and information (videos, computer simulations and other creative media) to increase and evaluate ocean literacy in adults and children. Window on Washington Waters displays the outer coast marine environments and sea life of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
"Local Investigations of Natural Science (LIONS)" engages grade 5-8 students from University City schools, Missouri in structured out-of-school programs that provide depth and context for their regular classroom studies. The programs are led by district teachers. A balanced set of investigations engage students in environmental research, computer modeling, and advanced applications of mathematics. Throughout, the artificial boundary between classroom and community is bridged as students use the community for their studies and resources from local organizations are brought into school. Through these projects, students build interest and awareness of STEM-related career opportunities and the academic preparation needed for success.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert CoulterEric KlopferJere Confrey
This research oriented project integrates the informal and formal science education sectors, bringing their combined resources to bear on the critical need for well-prepared and diverse urban science teachers. It represents a partnership among The City College of New York (CCNY), the New York Hall of Science (NYHOS), and the City University of New York Center for Advanced Study in Education (CUNY-CASE). It integrates the Science Career Ladder, a sustained program of informal science teaching training and employment at the NYHOS, with the CCNY science teacher preparation program. The longitudinal and comparative research study being conducted is designed to examine and document the effect of this integrated program on the production of urban science teachers. Outcomes from this study include a new body of research related to the impact of internships in science centers on improving classroom science teaching in urban high schools. Results are being disseminated to both the informal science education community (through the Association for Science and Technology Centers and the Center for Informal Learning in Schools, an NSF supported Center for Learning and Teaching situated at the San Francisco Exploratorium) and the formal education community (through the National Science Teachers Association and the American Educational Research Association).
The Science Career Ladder program engages undergraduates as inquiry-based interpreters (Explainers) for visitors to the NY Hall of Science. Integrating this experience with a formal teacher certification program enables participants to coordinate experiences in the science center, college science and education classes, and K-12 classrooms. Participants receive a license to teach science upon graduating. The approach has its theoretical underpinnings in the concept of situated learning as noted by Kirshner and Whitson (1997, Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic and Psychological Perspectives, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum). Through apprenticeship experiences, situated learning recreates the complexity and ambiguity of situations that learners will face in the real world. Science centers provide a potentially ideal setting for situational learning by future teachers, allowing them to develop, exercise and refine their science teaching and learning skills as noted by Gardner (1991, The Unschooled Mind, New York: Basic Books).
There is a well-documented shortage of science teachers in urban school districts. The causes of this shortage relate to all phases of the teacher professional continuum, from recruitment through training and retention. At the same time, the demographic composition of American teachers is increasingly out of synch with the demographics of the student population, raising concerns that a critical shortage of role models may be at hand, contributing to a worsening situation in urban schools. In the face of these challenges many innovative teacher recruitment and teacher preparation programs have been developed to augment traditional pathways to teaching. These programs range from high school academies for students expressing an interest in teaching to the recruitment and training of individuals making mid-life career changes. The CLUSTER program described above represents a new alternative. There are more than 250 science centers in the United States. Many of these have extensive youth internship programs and collaborative relationships with local colleges. Therefore, the proposed model is widely applicable.
The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of important aspects of human learning that are particularly relevant to educators, including learning across settings and lifelong learning.
“Scaling up” involves adapting an innovation successful in some local setting to effective usage in a wide range of contexts. In contrast to experiences in other sectors of society, scaling up successful programs has proved very difficult in education. In this chapter, Chris Dede discusses the challenges in creating scalable and sustainable educational interventions.
Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an emerging branch of the learning sciences concerned with studying how people can learn together with the help of computers. As we will see in this essay, such a simple statement conceals considerable complexity. The interplay of learning with technology turns out to be quite intricate. The inclusion of collaboration, computer mediation, and distance education has problematized the very notion of learning and called into question prevailing assumptions about how to study it.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gerry StahlTimothy KoschmannDan Suthers
Field trips are a popular method for introducing students to concepts, ideas, and experiences that cannot be provided in a classroom environment. This is particularly true for trans-disciplinary areas of teaching and learning, such as science or environmental education. While field trips are generally viewed by educators as beneficial to teaching and learning, and by students as a cherished alternative to classroom instructions, educational research paints a more complex picture. At a time when school systems demand proof of the educational value of field trips, large gaps oftentimes exist
Substantial evidence exists to indicate that outdoor science education (OSE)—properly conceived, adequately planned, well taught, and effectively followed up—offers learners opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills in ways that add value to their everyday experiences in the classroom. Specifically, OSE can have a positive impact on long-term memory due to the memorable nature of the setting. Effective OSE, and residential experience in particular, can lead to individual growth and improvements in students’ social skills. More importantly, there can be reinforcement between the
Gender differences in the pursuit of technology careers are a current issue of concern. We report on two studies that use surveys, drawings and interviews to examine sixth- and eighth-grade students' perceptions of knowledgeable computer users and their self-perception as a computer-type person. In Study 1, participants were asked to generate representations of computer users in pictures or words. The results indicate that the majority of representations were of male users and they frequently wore glasses. Students of both genders were more likely to draw males. Eighth-grade students'
Museum education is a field of practice that is guided effectively by traditions of practice addressing museums' purposes and expected audiences, and rarely explicitly refers to the numerous models of curriculum theory that are available to guide educational practice in the school setting. But curriculum models can be useful both for describing the purposes of museum programs and for assessing their outcomes. This article reviews some longstanding models of curriculum purpose, and proposes to bring one of them, four decades old, back into comon parlance for assessing the qualities of museum
Adolescents often pursue learning opportunities both in and outside school once they become interested in a topic. In this paper, a learning ecology framework and an associated empirical research agenda are described. This framework highlights the need to better understand how learning outside school relates to learning within schools or other formal organizations, and how learning in school can lead to learning activities outside school. Three portraits of adolescent learners are shared to illustrate different pathways to interest development. Five types of self-initiated learning processes
Young adolescents who expected to have a career in science were more likely to graduate from college with a science degree, emphasizing the importance of early encouragement.