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Alison Wallace Minnesota State University Moorhead. Biology Scholars Program -- Research Residency Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute. July 14-17, 2010 Washington, DC. Background. “How can I help my students become more ecologically literate ?” What is ecological literacy?
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Alison Wallace Minnesota State University Moorhead Biology Scholars Program -- Research ResidencyScholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute July 14-17, 2010 Washington, DC
Background • “How can I help my students become more ecologically literate?” • What is ecological literacy? • Environmental literacy ecological literacy? • “Ecological thinking” (Berkowitz 2007) • 1) knowledge of the principles of ecology, 2) systems thinking, 3) ecological values (Fritjof Capra) • Incorporate concepts of sustainability and ecological world view • How can we get our biology students to think on a more complex level and make these connections? • Just learning the science is not enough. • We do not have time to learn the details about each environmental issue out there.
The CAB-WTL ModelBalgopal, Dahlberg, and Wallace Cognitive Domain Affective Domain authentic Behavioral Domain • Identify and resolve misconceptions • Address affective and behavioral, as well as, cognitive domains • Develop metacognitive skills • Use evidence to support claims • Employ higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) WTL = writing to learn
Research question • Because the three essays served as the intervention as well as the assessment, we need additional forms of assessment! • We also need to know how transferable ecological thinking can be from one issue to another. Will our class time spent writing essays on one issue be “worth it”? **Does employing the CAB-WTL model for one environmental issue enable students to transfer their ecological thinking skills to novel issues?**
Research design • One intro biology class (n=24) • Three environmental issues: A, B, C • Underlying ecological concepts: A=B; A≠C • Pre intervention: introduce basic ecological concepts • Pre test: MC, scenario-based (A) • Intervention: Three in-class essays on issue A • Post test: MC, scenario-based (A, B, C) • Transfer (related): One in-class essay on issue B • Transfer (not related): One in-class essay on issue C