An award has been made to the University System of Maryland to establish a Phase I Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) in collaboration with University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), University of Delaware (UDEL), and the University of Maryland (UMD). The overall goal of the CCEP Phase I project is to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts.
The Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment and Research (MADE-CLEAR) project is a natural outgrowth of Maryland's and Delaware's shared regional climate change and education environments. Its primary goal is to build the partnerships among these two States' research and teaching universities, public schools, federal agencies, and public and private sectors required to implement three targeted objectives: 1) to develop innovations in interdisciplinary P-20 climate change curriculum, 2) to create new pathways for teacher education and professional development leading to expertise in climate change content and pedagogy, and 3) to promote better scientific communication for public understanding using innovative community outreach strategies that employ new technologies and informal education mechanisms. The audiences targeted by this project include climate scientists, science educators, and broader community stakeholder groups.
By the end of this project, the PIs expect to complete an inventory of current education and scientific resources related to climate change by identifying and cataloguing the breadth and depth of science and practice in climate change in the region. In addition to the environmental scan and inventory, the PIs will assess opportunities to enhance instruction and community engagement through the interaction of climate change scientists, educators and learning sciences scholars. Finally, the PIs expect to develop a strategic plan and build significant local learning communities around climate change in Maryland and Delaware which will serve to promote sustainability of the project into the next phase.
More information on this project is available by visiting www.usmd.edu or contacting PIs Don Boesch at dboesch@umces.edu or Nancy Shapiro at nshapiro@usmd.edu.
Delaware and Maryland teachers and informal educators will have new resources to integrate climate change science into the classroom—reinforced with professional development that applies recent advances in learning sciences to engage educators and build their confidence and knowledge. The CCEP I Maryland Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment, and Research (MADE CLEAR) project has provided the means to develop a unique and potentially powerful network for integrating, improving, and studying the outcomes of climate change science in classrooms and on campuses in Maryland and Delaware. Led by the University System of Maryland, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and University of Delaware, the diverse team of learning scientists, K-12 practitioners, climate scientists, informal educators, and education policy experts continues work under a NSF CCEP II award. Together with faculty at Towson University, University of Maryland, College Park, and Delaware State University and Maryland Public Television staff they are currently working under the CCEP II award to: Embed climate change science into formal and informal education in the region. Build and sustain the capacity of educators to deepen student understanding of climate change. Utilize learning principles and the sociocultural diversity of the region to develop effective, scalable, and transferable modes of climate change education. Advance policies and practices for climate change education in the region and beyond. Planning support through CCEP I was used to build active partnerships with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Delaware Natural Resource and Environmental Control, Delaware Science Coalition, Maryland State Department of Education, and the Delaware Department of Education to provide insights on state plans as Next Generation Science Standards are implemented in both states. Environmental literacy standards are also addressed in MADE CLEAR. The effort is forging new ways to deliver effective and relevant climate change education that could serve as a national model. Activities completed under the CCEP I MADE CLEAR award include the following: 2011 MADE CLEAR Climate Change Education Summit Featuring President Obama’s Science and Technology Advisor, Dr. John Holdren, the Summit attracted 225 educators, scientists, administrators, and policy-makers from the region. Dr. Holdren’s lecture included an interactive question-and-answer session that allowed participants to engage with, and draw upon the intensity of, his concern about the future of our nation regarding our changing climate. Smaller sessions secured input from and facilitated discussion among our different communities on four themes: Preparing educators to teach climate change, Overcoming barriers to climate change education, Raising climate change awareness among students, and Promoting collaboration on climate change education. Breakout session findings were used to develop the MADE CLEAR Strategic and Implementation Plan and highlighted the needs identified by the attendees for: Teacher professional development in climate change science, Appropriate classroom resources, and An interdisciplinary/integrated/collaborative approach. These three findings are pillars of the continued MADE CLEAR effort. Planning for the 2013 Climate Academy Planning for a week-long professional development experience in Lewes, DE was supported through this award. The 2013 Climate Academy brought together 28 educators for lectures, hands-on activities, and workshops by expert climate scientists and science educators. Planning for the Academy included partners beyond the MADE CLEAR team and benefitted from the involvement of education teams from the University of Michigan and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Extensive interaction between middle and high school science teachers and informal educators from Maryland and Delaware led to the introduction of climate change science into classrooms during the 2013-2014 school year. MADE CLEAR is continuing to provide professional development and study the classroom outcomes. Informal Education Research During this reporting period, informal science educator interviews and online questionnaires were analyzed. The respondents felt that climate change education (CCE) aligned with their institution’s mission and did not perceive any institutional, audience, or personal barriers, although they generally noted that CCE programming remains limited at their institutions. These informal educators also indicated that improving audiences’ understanding of climate change was a primary goal. This finding aligned with the audiences’ high interest in learning about climate change and the overwhelming support for CCE at these institutions. However, it conflicts with audiences’ reporting relatively high confidence in their existing CCE knowledge, somewhat low need for help in understanding climate change, and high interest in behavior change to reduce climate change. Educators’ responses pointed to the need for program materials and resources to support audience interest in climate change education including training on CCE for public audiences, access to locally relevant resources, staff training on climate change science, and access to other educators teaching CCE. As MADE CLEAR continues with CCEP II support, implementation of climate change science education is even more pressing. With the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards in both states, the need for not only the climate change science content, but also the research to support effective instruction and professional development, will be critical to successful implementation.
