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EnvironMentors Education Context & Relevant Education Styles Case Statements • Studies have found that our current national science program initiatives for K-12 education are still wanting.1 • Many students get discouraged from science during their high school experience; therefore it is important to cultivate their scientific curiosity while they are still young.2 • Latino and African American science proficiency scores are typically lower than that of their Caucasian Americans counterparts.3 • Mentors and Formative Experiences help form a student’s selection of science as a college/career path.4 • Positive outdoor experiences help improve academic achievement in science, powers of observation, and increase capacities related to empirical observation and analytical examination.5 Principles: • Mentors should… be pre-matched and have comprehensive mentor training and support maintain consistent interaction with their mentee. practice relationship-building based on trust and enthusiastic leadership by the mentor.

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Science learning should… be student directed and learner centered. make science relevant to the learner’s everyday life. facilitate a process by which one’s separate influential spheres (family, school, jobs) overlap to increase the depth of learning. build on students’ prior knowledge.

Involve inquiry based learning.

Include presenting and defending student obtained results.

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Informal Science and Environmental Education… needs to have parental involvement or support to some extent. should include Place-based learning in which student become familiar with their own community as a context for learning about environmental content and issues. should breed awareness to action in which the mentor facilitates a process through which the mentee progresses from awareness of an issue to acquiring the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to take action regarding that issue based on the learner’s own conclusions.

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[NRC] National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington (DC): National Academy Press.

Brainard, Suzanne G. Ph.D. and Linda Carlin. “A Longitudinal Study of Undergraduate Women in Engineering and Science.” Frontiers in Education Conference, 1997.

3 Johnson, Clarence and William Allan Kritsonis, PhD. “The Achievement Gap in Mathematics: A Significant Problem for African American Students.” DOCTORAL FORUM: National Journal for Publishing, 2006 - nationalforum.com

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Wai-Ling Packard, Becky and Dam Nguyen. “Science Career-Related Possible Selves of Adolescent Girls: A Longitudinal Study” Journal of Career Development. (Springer, Netherlands: Volume 29, Number 4). June, 2003.

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Hofstein, Avi; Sherman Rosenfeld. “Bridging the Gap Between Formal and Informal Science Learning.” Studies in Science Education, 19408412, Volume 28, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 87 – 112.

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facilitates active and long-term learning.

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Place-based education Place-based education is a holistic approach to education, conservation and community development that uses the local community as an integrating context for learning at all ages. It fosters vibrant partnerships between schools and communities to both boost student achievement and improve community health and vitality--environmental, social and economic. Project-focused and inherently tailored by local people to local realities, place-based education is relevant to anyone, anywhere.i •

Characteristicsii o o o o

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It emerges from the particular attributes of a place. The content is specific to the geography, ecology, sociology, politics, and other dynamics of that place.

It is inherently multidisciplinary.

It is experiential, including a participatory action or service learning component which can lead students to ecological and cultural sustainability.

It connects place with self and community. Students learning through the ecological lens make include multigenerational and multicultural connections as they interface with community resources.

Importanceiii o

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Some critics of place-based education believe that the primary goal of schooling should be to prepare students to work and function in a highly technological and consumeroriented society. In contrast, place-based educators believe that education should prepare people to live and work to sustain the cultural and ecological integrity of the places they inhabit. To do this, people must have knowledge of ecological patterns, systems of causation, and the long-term effects of human actions on those patterns (Orr, 1994).

One of the most compelling reasons to adopt place-based education is to provide students with the knowledge and experiences needed to actively participate in the democratic process.

Inquiry-based science learning Through the process of inquiry, individuals construct much of their understanding of the natural and human-designed worlds. Inquiry implies a "need or want to know" premise. Inquiry is not so much seeking the right answer -- because often there is none -- but rather seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues. For educators, inquiry implies emphasis on the development of inquiry skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life.iv Content of disciplines is very important, but as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. The knowledge base for disciplines is constantly expanding and changing. No one can ever learn everything, but everyone can better develop their skills and nurture the inquiring attitudes necessary to continue the generation and examination of knowledge throughout their lives. For modern education, the skills and the ability to continue learning should be the most important outcomes. v •

Inquiry Learning Processvi o

Start with an open-ended question or demonstration (as opposed to beginning a lesson with definitions and explanations).

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o o o o o

Gather responses and subsequent questions from students with little comment or direction.

Require students to collaborate on designing experiments or methods of inquiry.

Student teams conduct experiments or gather data.

If time allows, re-evaluate question based on new data and re-experiment or collect new data based on revised question.

Students present findings as an oral presentation, a poster presentation or an evaluative write-up.

Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Model Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (ELOB) is an intense school reform model in which every aspect of a school promotes an experience-based approach to education. That means students learn their core academic subjects through using the City itself as a classroom. Students’ educational experiences revolve around expeditions — long-term, in-depth studies of a topic or theme that involve field work, service, adventure, and a cumulative final project or performance. The model focuses on character growth and teamwork, using the motto ‘we are all crew, not passengers’.vii •

ELOB Principlesviii o An emphasis on character and academic development; o Social commitment, vision, and service; o Cooperation and healthy competitions against oneself and standards; o The importance of caring and intimacy, solitude and reflection and success and failure as means to and conditions for learning; o Respect for nature and the environment; o Diversity and inclusiveness in the classroom; o Creation of conditions in schools for all students to discover and construct meaning. o ELOB schools restructure schedules, school organization, teacher-student relationships, curriculum, professional development, and assessment to create and support a community of learners engaged in expeditions.

Student Centered projects In a student-centered classroom, students are encouraged to participate actively in learning the material as it is presented rather than being passive and perhaps taking notes quietly. Students are involved throughout the class time in activities that help them construct their understanding of the material that is presented. The instructor no longer delivers a vast amount of information, but uses a variety of hands-on activities to promote learning.ix Student-centered learning is about helping students to discover their own learning styles, to understand their motivation and to acquire effective study skills that will be valuable throughout their lives. To put this approach into practice, teachers need to help students set achievable goals; encourage students to assess themselves and their peers; help them to work co-operatively in groups and ensure that they know how to exploit all the available resources for learning.x Learning is thus more a form of personal development than a linear progression that the teacher achieves by rewards and sanctions. Errors are seen as a constructive part of the learning process and need not be a source of embarrassment. xi •

Principles: xii o The learner has full responsibility for her/his learning o Involvement and participation are necessary for learning o The relationship between learners is more equal, promoting growth, development o The teacher becomes a facilitator and resource person o The learner experiences confluence in his education o The learner sees himself/herself differently as a result of the learning experience

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“What is Place Based Learning”. Promise of Place. 2008. http://www.promiseofplace.org/ Woodhouse, Janice L. and Clifford E Knapp. “Place. Based Curriculum and Instruction: Outdoor and Environmental Education Approaches”.

ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools (Charleston WV: 2000). http://www.ericdigests.org/20013/place.htm.

1 Woodhouse and Knapp.

1 “Workshop: Inquiry Based Learning. Concept to Classroom”. Thirteen Ed Online. 2004. http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/ 1 Workshop: Inquiry Based Learning.

1 Franklin, Wilfred A. “Inquiry Based Approaches to Science Education: Theory and Practice.” Department of Biology, BrynMawr University. http://www.brynmawr.edu/biology/franklin/InquiryBasedScience.html 1 “NYC Outward Bound Opens Two New Expeditionary Learning Schools in Brooklyn”. (Bensonhurst, NY: 2007). http://www.nycoutwardbound.org/pdf%20and%20word%20files/NYCOBBrooklyn07.pdf 1 “Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Program Description.” National Staff Development Council. http://www.nsdc.org/midbook/outward.pdf 1 Timberlake, Karen. “Using Student Centered Learning Strategies in the Chemistry Classroom”. Department of Chemistry, Los Angeles Valley College. (Valley Glen). http://www.karentimberlake.com/student-centered_classoom.htm 1 Hall, Brenda. “Student-centered Learning: Explorations in Learning”. (2006) http://secondlanguagewriting.com/explorations/Archives/2006/Jul/StudentcenteredLearning.html 1 Brenda Hall.

1 Brenda Hall.

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