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低下。该项目的主要目标是提供一个框架，在这个框架中，所有佐治亚南方大学的本科生都可以在获得对科学的理解的同时实现基本的环境素养。这一目标将通过在生物学、化学、地质学和物理学四个科学学科中开设环境课程来实现。这些课程构成了GSU新核心课程的一个特定领域，所有学生都需要这些课程，包括理科生、非理科生和未来的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，在“需要知道”的基础上提供上下文教学。该项目有三个显著的特点：1。一种方法，将扩大学生对地方，区域和全球环境问题的认识；2 .注重基于这些问题的动手实验活动；高等科学和科学教育专业学生作为“本科教学实习计划”（UTIP）的教师指导实习生参与实验室工作。预期的项目成果是：毕业生拥有从事环境意识行为和知情公民的知识，未来K-12教师的科学和环境知识得到提高，学生对科学与现实世界问题之间联系的认识，以及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，供其他机构采用。传播将在全国会议、教师发展研讨会、实验室材料和专业文章的出版以及项目网站上完成。这种模式是一种通用模式，可以被其他机构合理地采用，因此，在大学之外具有极好的影响潜力。

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.