Urban Ecology Course Materials Created with a Universal Design for Learning Framework

林奇教育学院和波士顿学院城市生态研究所正在与应用特殊技术中心(CAST)合作，开发、测试、评估和传播一套为期一年的城市生态课程材料，用于高中水平的顶石科学课程。以标准为基础的材料强调与当地相关的实地研究，并纳入了通用学习设计和教育课程的原则。其他功能包括(1)链接到专业发展资源的在线资源中心，(2)学生撰写的城市环境报纸《绿色时报》，以及(3)写作支持工具包。评估和研究研究的重点是衡量这些材料在促进城市高中学生，特别是来自代表不足的群体的学生的内容理解、科学自我效能和探究能力方面的有效性。

The Lynch School of Education and the Urban Ecology Institute at Boston College are partnering with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) to develop, test, evaluate and disseminate a year-long set of urban ecology course materials for use in high school-level capstone science courses. The standards-based materials emphasize locally-relevant field studies and incorporate principles of Universal Design for Learning and Educative Curriculum. Other features include (1) an on-line resource center that links to professional development resources, (2) a student-written urban environment newspaper called "Green Times," and (3) a writing support toolkit. Evaluation and research studies focus on measuring effectiveness of the materials in promoting content understanding, self-efficacy in science and inquiry abilities of students in urban high schools, particularly those from underrepresented groups.