The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education
In the coming decades, the general public will be required ever more often to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local to global scales. Thus it
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Alec M. Bodzin Beth Shiner Klein Starlin Weaver ●
Editors
The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education
Editors Alec M. Bodzin Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA USA [email protected]
Beth Shiner Klein SUNY Cortland NY USA [email protected]
Starlin Weaver Salisbury University Salisbury, MD USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-9221-2 e-ISBN 978-90-481-9222-9 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9222-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010932326 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Imagine small groups of students scattered about a natural area adjacent to their school. One group is identifying local plant life using a field guide. They are choosing plants that will be part of their Nature Gallery that they will share with other students. Another group has a microphone connected to an iPod and is trying to record the sounds of cicadas for use in a podcast they are creating about how insects communicate. Finally, another group is using mobile technology to collect stream data. This data will be incorporated into a larger watershed management study that uses Google Earth tools. Ultimately, they are all engaged in place-based, meaningful, and active learning experiences. As the students work, their teacher walks around the natural area observing, questioning, and advising the students on their projects. As she moves to the next group, she thinks to herself how lucky she was to have had rich pedagogical environmental education experiences during her preservice teacher preparation. These experiences prepared her to maximize learning for field trips in outdoor settings, supplied her with environmental education curriculum content, taught her that environmental education is interdisciplinary and that technology can be used appropriately to enhance outdoor explorations and investigations. This preparation really made the difference for her class. The students seem to grasp new concepts much more quickly when they are provided with active learning experiences and truly understand how many important science concepts, ideas, and learning approaches transcend discrete subject areas.
This vision summarizes the hope that the editors of this book and the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) Environmental Education forum members have for the improvement of integrating environmental education (EE) into science teacher preparation. According to the NSF report, Complex Environmental Systems: Synthesis for Earth, Life, and Socie
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