Environmental Literacy for All Students: Development of Environmental Science Courses in a New Core Curriculum

越来越多的文献充分证明了美国公众的科学和环境素养水平较低。该项目的主要目标是提供一个框架，使所有南乔治亚州本科生能够在获得对科学的理解的同时实现基本的环境素养。这一目标将通过开发四个科学学科的环境课程来实现：生物、化学、地质学和物理。这些课程构成了格拉斯哥州立大学新核心课程的一个特殊领域，将要求所有学生，包括理科专业、非理科专业和未来的K-12教师。新课程将利用环境问题来介绍和讨论相关的科学概念，并在“需要了解”的基础上提供情景指导。该项目有三个鲜明的特点：1.一种将扩大学生对当地、地区和全球环境问题的认识的方法；2.基于这些问题的动手实验室活动；3.让高级科学和科学教育专业的学生作为教师指导的实习生参与到“本科教学实习计划”(UTIP)中来。预期的项目成果是：拥有从事环境意识行为和知情公民身份的知识的毕业生，提高未来K-12教师的科学和环境知识，学生对科学与现实世界问题之间的联系的欣赏，以及对UTIP参与者，包括学生实习生和科学教师的教师培训。该项目将产生实验室练习，供其他机构进行适应。传播将通过在全国会议、教师发展研讨会、出版实验室材料和专业文章以及一个项目网站上进行透彻的陈述来完成。这种模式是一种普遍的模式，可以被其他机构合理地调整，因此具有极大的潜力在大学之外产生影响。

A growing body of literature amply documents the low levels of scientific and environmental literacy among the American public. The main goal of this project is to provide a framework in which all Georgia Southern undergraduates can achieve basic environmental literacy while acquiring an understanding of science. This goal will be pursued through the development of environmental courses in four science disciplines: biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. These courses constitute a particular area of GSU's new core curriculum that will be required of all students, including science majors, non-science majors, and future K-12 teachers. The new courses will utilize environmental issues to introduce and discuss relevant scientific concepts, providing in-context instruction on a "need-to-know" basis. The project has three distinctive features: 1. An approach that will expand students' awareness of local, regional, and global environmental problems, 2. A focus on hands-on laboratory activities based on these issues, and 3. Involvement of advanced science and science education majors in the laboratories as faculty-mentored interns in the "Undergraduate Teaching Internship Program" (UTIP). Expected project outcomes are: graduates who possess the knowledge to engage in environmentally-aware behavior and informed citizenship, improved scientific and environmental knowledge of future K-12 teachers, appreciation by students of the connections between science and real-world problems, and teacher training for UTIP participants, including student interns and science faculty. The project will yield laboratory exercises that will be made available for adaptation by other institutions. Dissemination will be accomplished thorough presentations at national meetings, faculty development workshops, publication of laboratory materials and professional articles, and a project web site. This model is a general one that can be reasonably adapted by other institutions and, therefore, has excellen t potential for impact outside the university.