Heartland Partnerships: Inquiry-Based Ecological and Environmental Science Education at SIUC
The Heartland Partnerships: Inquiry-Based Ecological and Environmental Science Education at SIUC, a new GK-12 project between Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and three K-12 rural school districts within Illinois, has four program goals: 1) use content knowledge and skills of fellows and faculty to increase scientific literacy among high school students, 2) improve teachers' science content and pedagogical knowledge, 3) provide experiences for teachers in conducting both scientific and action research, 4) enhance long-term partnerships between the university and local schools. Fellows and faculty will engage teachers and students in exploration of the various ecological habitats. The intellectual merit of this project includes summer workshops for graduates and teachers and also the creation of original research projects that will be conducted at SIUC Touch of Nature Environmental (TONEC) field sites. These projects will be a result of an analysis of the curriculum and therefore, teams of graduate students and teachers will plan exercises, develop action plans and integrate and refine inquiry-based teaching in the classroom. The broader impacts of this project include the recruitment of underrepresented minority graduate students to serve as role models, and resources for content knowledge and science process skills for the K-12 students. The graduate fellows will gain an appreciation for science education, stronger ties to the K-12 community, and development of mentoring, communication and teaching skills. Outcomes for the teachers include increased content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, familiarity with scientific issues, increased understanding of scientific research techniques, enhanced reflective practice through Action research and stronger ties to the university community. University faculty will gain an appreciation of science education, increased understanding of the problems inherent in high school science education, stronger ties to the local science education community, and increased levels of interdisciplinary cooperation within the university. The project will also reach out to non-participating teachers and students in the state through summer professional development workshops, open access to lesson, units and chats via the Internet, and the distribution of a science activities manual.
The SIUC Heartland Environmental Academic and Research Training (HEART) GK-12 program partnered graduate fellows with high school teachers in rural schools across Southern Illinois to enhanced science content knowledge, research awareness, communication skills and pedagogy effectiveness. The program increased: 1) high school students’ content knowledge, research skills, and attitudes toward science; 2) teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge, scientific research skills, and reflective practice; 3) fellows’ teaching skills, integration of research in teaching; and 4) faculty's appreciation of science education and stronger ties to the educational community. Intellectual Merit Professional development activities (below) focused on ecological science and evidence-based pedagogy. 1. Summer Research Institute: Fellows and teachers engaged in a two-week Institute, the cornerstone of which was a short ecological research project that they designed and implemented. During this experience, fellows learned to mentor teachers in authentic research activities. Inquiry exercises for classrooms were developed based on the experience. External Evaluators Comments: The summer institute was a major factor in the success of the project. Sessions contribute to several of the objectives and were well organized and evaluated very positively by teachers, fellows and faculty. Well done. 2. Ecology Seminars: Teachers and fellows enrolled in ecology seminars each year to enhance ecological content knowledge. These seminars provided a forum for intellectual discourse, group learning and enhancement of writing skills. External Evaluators Comments: The activities and discussion in the Ecology Class were outstanding. It is very clear that teachers and fellows encountered a higher level of ecological conceptual interest and understanding than previously. This course is an excellent example of how this program helped teachers and fellows grow professionally. Very, very impressive. 3. Action Research courses: All participants completed Action Research courses, during which classroom projects were designed and implemented. The teams learned how to review literature, design action research projects, analyze and organize data, and communicate results. Instructional materials they developed made contributions to their instructional practice and student learning. External Evaluators Comments: Action research was used very successfully to assess, investigate and evaluate student achievement, student attitudes toward science, and teacher and fellow practice. 4. Inquiry exercises in classrooms: Each semester, teacher-fellow pairs developed and tested inquiry exercises in their classrooms and made them available on the website. From these exercises, an original document was compiled, entitled The Human Element on current ecological and environmental topics as related to the original research of fellows. Open-ended inquiry in the form of original research was overseen by teachers and fellows. Students conducted research and presented at the Annual GK-12 Research Symposium at SIU. Over 100 7-12 grade students from 5-7 schools attended the symposium each year. External Evaluators Comments:. It is very clear that fellows, teachers and students were engaged in precisely the kind of activities that the project was designed to address. Students worked on novel lessons that were co-developed by fellows and teachers. Teachers were learning new science from interactions with fellows. Broader Impacts The HEART GK-12 program was transformative for fellows, teachers and faculty. Our teachers have changed their curricula to incorporate inquiry exercises and research. Fellows have ALL consider teaching and outreach integral to their professional goals. The experience has been instrumental in securing faculty positions for our doctoral recipients. The immensely positive impact on partnerships with schools has changed the climate of collaboration throughout the region. One of our teacher/fellow teams won the Disney Planet Challenge Grand Prize. Fran Wachter's science class, the Wetland Warriers, was the first middle school class ever to receive this national recognition. www.districtadministration.com/article/disney-planet-challenge-grand-prize-winner-middle-school-level www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU99gGsdc3c The broader impacts of HEART GK-12 are summarized below: 1. Integrating research and teaching: Fellows engaged students in classroom and field inquiry-based exercises. Students noted benefits from engaging in fellow-mentored research and presenting at the research symposium. 2. Increasing diversity: Five or the 18 fellows were ethnic minorities. Four will have completed the PhD in 2014, of which two are young assistant professors. One fellow reported changes in minority students toward science in his Action Research paper entitled: Measuring Ethnic Minority Student Attitudes towards Science after Addition of An Ethnic Minority GK-12 Fellow. 3. Promote reflective teaching and evidence based-pedagogy: Action Research has instilled reflective approaches to teaching, while inquiry exercises add important elements to teaching repertoires. The impact on students in the years to come is immeasurable. 4. Engaging the community: HEART GK-12 transformed a room in the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale into a "Science Discovery Room." Fellow/teacher teams presented "Power Hour" science activities such as tie-dying chemistry (Fig. 1). Participants provided activities to enhance ecological awareness during Eco-U, an experiential nature camp for grades 1-8. 5) Reaching beyond the community. Project materials and results were disseminated through numerous meetings, peer-reviewed publications and the website (www.heart.siu.edu). Fellows developed inquiry-based exercises for classrooms using C-Fern (Fig. 2) and for PlantingScience (www.plantingscience.org/), an on-line program available worldwide.
