Collaborative Research: Ecosystems and Evidence Project

该提案是一个探索性的研究和开发项目，旨在解决以下问题：“学生能否在高中生物和环境科学课程中培养对科学的生态本质（ENOS）的理解，从而在环境公民中发挥作用？”为了解决这个问题，该项目将确定ENOS的基本要素，调查如何教授和学习这些要素，并探索如何利用ENOS技能和理解来增强环境公民意识。四个核心假设构成了该项目的研究重点和基本原理：1)ENOS在重要方面与一般NOS不同；2)掌握ENOS可以提高学生批判主张、解决问题和支持科学方法解决问题的能力；3)具备ENOS和相关教学的个人能力，认识到ENOS是一个有价值的教学目标，以及自信使教师能够将ENOS融入到教学中；4)当学生有直接的经验，从不同背景下不同类型的生态证据中创建论点，反思ENOS，并有将ENOS在生态学和其他领域中转移的经验时，他们可以发展对ENOS的掌握。为了探索这些假设，该项目将定义ENOS，开发评估工具来描述学生和教师的技能和对ENOS的理解，并测试教师和学生如何更熟练地获取和应用ENOS技能和知识。加里研究所和罗格斯大学的ENOS学习社区（高中生物和环境科学教师、生态学家和教育工作者）将与一个概念开发团队（8名生态学家、教育工作者和教师）合作，开发ENOS框架，规划和开展学生和教师研究，开发ENOS教学实验，测试教师专业发展的方法，并制定ENOS框架和教学模式的更广泛应用计划。在两年的课程中，将接触到大约720名学生，期望通过掌握ENOS技能和概念，提高他们的环境公民身份，以及他们在解决问题方面的自信。六名ENOS教学/研究人员（高中生物和环境科学教师）将成为该项目的合作伙伴，并将获得专业发展和支持，包括与项目工作人员直接接触210多个小时。最后，当地社区将受益于学生在最终活动中开展的项目，他们使用多种形式的生态证据来解决当地问题。该项目的产品将广泛传播，包括：1)指导将ENOS纳入高中教学和评估的框架；2)描述学生和教师ENOS技能和知识的评估项目和协议集合；3)关于学生思考和学习，以及教师ENOS实践的研究出版物和报告；4)将ENOS引入高中生物和环境科学课程的教学模式。

This proposal is an exploratory research and development project that addresses the question, "Can students develop an understanding of the ecological nature of science (ENOS) in high school biology and environmental science classes that is useful and productive in environmental citizenship?" To address this question, the project will identify the essential elements of ENOS, investigate how these can be taught and learned, and explore how ENOS skills and understandings are used to enhance environmental citizenship. Four core hypotheses form the research focus and rationale for the proposed project: 1) ENOS is distinctive in important ways from generic NOS; 2) ENOS mastery enhances students' abilities to critique claims, address issues and support scientific approaches to problems; 3) personal facility with ENOS and related teaching, recognition of ENOS as a worthy target of instruction, and self confidence enable teachers to integrate ENOS into their instruction; and 4) students can develop ENOS mastery when they have direct experience creating arguments from ecological evidence of diverse types in diverse contexts, reflect on ENOS, and have scaffolded experiences transferring ENOS within ecology and to other arenas. To explore these hypotheses, the project will define ENOS, develop assessment tools for describing students' and teachers' skills and understandings of ENOS, and test ways for teachers and students to become more adept at acquiring and applying ENOS skills and knowledge. ENOS Learning Communities (high school biology and environmental science teachers, ecologists and educators) at the Cary Institute and Rutgers University will work with a Concept Development Team (8 ecologists, educators and teachers) to develop an ENOS framework, plan and carry out student and teacher research, develop ENOS teaching experiments, test approaches to teacher professional development, and craft a plan for broader application of the ENOS framework and teaching models. Over the course of two years, approximately 720 students will be reached, with the expectation that their environmental citizenship will be enhanced through mastery of ENOS skills and concepts, as will their self confidence in approaching problems. Six ENOS Teaching/Research Fellows (high school biology and environmental science teachers) will be partners in the project, and will receive professional development and support including more than 210 direct contact hours with project staff. Finally, local communities will benefit from projects carried out by students in their culminating activities where they address a local issue using multiple forms of ecological evidence. Products of the project will be disseminated broadly, including: 1) a framework to guide incorporation of ENOS into high school instruction and assessments; 2) a collection of assessment items and protocols for describing students and teachers ENOS skills and knowledge; 3) research publications and presentations about student thinking and learning, and about teachers ENOS practices; and 4) instructional models with modified lesson plans for infusing ENOS into high school biology and environmental science courses.