HR: 15:25h
AN: ED23C-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Students as Mentors and Owners of Geoscience and Environmental Education: Advancing the Science of Climate Change in the Public Schools
AU: * Schuster, D A
EM: daschust@iupui.edu
AF: Indiana University School of Education @ IUPUI, 902 West New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46022, United States
AU: Thomas, C W
EM: chwthoma@iupui.edu
AF: IUPUI Department of Earth Sciences, 723 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46022, United States
AU: Smith, J S
EM: jss2@iupui.edu
AF: Indiana University School of Education @ IUPUI, 902 West New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46022, United States
AU: Wood, E J
EM: eljwood@iupui.edu
AF: Indiana University School of Education @ IUPUI, 902 West New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46022, United States
AU: Filippelli, G M
EM: gfilippe@iupui.edu
AF: IUPUI Department of Earth Sciences, 723 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46022, United States
AB: The importance of K-12 educational programs and resources that seek to share the science of climate change has recently come into focus. During the fall 2006 AGU meeting, we presented the conceptual framework used to guide both the curriculum and year-one programs of Students as Mentors and Owners of Geoscience and Environmental Education: The Global Warming Road Show. Currently this dynamic, three-phase, tiered mentoring program selects and empowers a diverse population of 11th and 12th grade students from a large urban high school in the Midwest to teach a curriculum on climate change to 7th graders from a local feeder school. In December 2007 we will complete year-one of the program and will present an overview of 1) students' conceptual representations of climate change, 2) the most recent curriculum and programs, and 3) the ongoing program evaluation. We will synthesize these three areas and reflect on how to improve upon year-two of both the curriculum and the program. During various stages of the program, students have constructed concept maps, written in journals, created lesson plans, and participated in focus group interviews. These materials are being analyzed to provide a brief overview of high school students' initial conceptualizations of climate change. During the intensive 2007 summer workshop, these 11th and 12th grade students were supported by university scientists and science educators, secondary science teachers, and museum educators as they attempted to better understand climate change and as they reflected on how to effectively teach this topic to 7th graders. During the fall semester of 2007, the workshop graduates are scheduled to teach 25 to 30 7th graders a five week climate unit. The program will culminate with the 11th and 12th grade student-mentors working with the 7th graders to create a "Road Show," which will be presented to other 7th and 8th graders within the same school district. To ensure that this program is current, a team of scientists and science educators supplemented and further developed a well known and tested 15-year-old curriculum (Great Explorations in Math and Science, 1990) with recent data and analysis focusing on key concepts of climate change. The updated curriculum was structured using two driving questions: - How do we know the earth has experienced climate change in the past, including the ice ages and the age of the dinosaurs? - How do we know that humans have an impact on climate? Science educators and scientists also worked together to create templates that prompted the 11th and 12th grade students to first reflect on their understandings of climate change and then on how they would teach their younger peers. As students work with experiments, data sets, and news-media articles, they are also prompted to reflect on discrepancies between primary science sources and secondary media sources (Drake and Nelson, 2005). An evaluation team observed the summer workshops, administered surveys, reviewed the adapted curriculum, and participated in planning sessions. The evaluators are in the process of analyzing these multiple indicators to examine the extent to which the program aligns with its stated goals. The initial formative evaluation findings suggest that students were active participants in the workshop and that they enjoyed their experience. Areas of year-two development include improved communication and collaboration between university and secondary school units.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting