PARENT SESSION
Symposium 12: Integrating Scientific Research and Ecology Education
Organized by: M Krasny, C Brewer, and D Ebert-May
Wednesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Chatham Ballroom C.

Education Linked to Scientific Research: the Education Perspective.

DeBoer, George^*,,

ABSTRACT- There have been many efforts recently to connect the work of scientists and educators. This has become policy at the National Science Foundation and at many other agencies that fund scientific research. Most often these efforts are cast as social outreach activities where the knowledge and expertise of scientists is to be shared with the public. Much of this outreach is focused specifically on the K-12 educational experience, with a hope of improved teacher education, higher quality instructional materials, and more effective classroom activities, but higher education can benefit from these efforts as well. However, little thought has gone into how, exactly, this translation from scientific research to the schools, higher education, or the general public is to happen. In this talk I will explore some of the ways that science researchers can collaborate with K-12 educators to help improve science education and how this approach can be adapted for other audiences as well. A key strategy is through focused discussions of the content that the students are expected to learn. At Project 2061 we have developed what we call strand maps, which show the conceptual linkages between sets of content-based learning goals. Through discussions of this content and these linkages, scientists can come to understand the learning expectations that educators have for K-12 students, their developmental trajectories, and the level of preparation they should have when they enter higher education. At the same time, the scientists can learn about a goals-based model of content instruction that can be adapted for use in higher education or the general public. A second way for scientists to collaborate with K-12 educators is for them to offer phenomena that they work with as possible new contexts for teaching important concepts, and to offer visual models and representations that they believe can be used to clarify difficult concepts for students. When scientists think in terms of the specific learning goals of their audience, then their outreach efforts can be more focused and effective. The purpose of this talk is to discuss some of the ways to accomplish this.

Key words: Strand maps, K-12 science education, Outreach, Research-Education interface