A Multi-tiered Approach to Undergraduate Science Learning in an Urban Public College

为了让本科生在他们自己的城市社区中参与与环境问题相关的基于问题的学习，该项目正在创建、实施和评估新的课程材料，重点是纽约市三个EPA超级基金站点的学生对水污染的调查。该项目涉及纽约城市大学约翰·杰伊学院的三个不同水平的学生(学习仪器分析的理科专业的学生，学习环境科学的非理科专业的学生，以及参加研究实习的高年级学生)。纽约城市大学是东北部最大的四年制拉美裔服务机构。这些学生一起工作，收集、分析、解释和报告从Superfund网站收集的数据。作为该项目的一部分，正在评估的学生学习目标包括：发展协作学习技能，帮助学生了解如何交流他们的想法以及分担责任如何在科学中发挥重要作用；以及学生对科学过程的理解，包括科学家如何利用数据进行推理。正在开发的课程和教学是学院和大学的工作模式，包括纽约市地区目前合作的五所社区学院，它们有兴趣弥合研究科学家和了解科学的公民之间的差距。

To engage undergraduate students in problem-based learning relevant to environmental issues in their own urban communities, this project is creating, implementing, and evaluating new curricular materials focused on student investigations of water pollution at three EPA Superfund sites in New York City. The project involves students enrolled in three courses at different levels (science majors studying instrumental analysis, non-science majors studying environmental science, and senior students participating in research internships) at John Jay College of the City University of New York, which is the largest four-year, Hispanic-serving institution in the Northeast. These students work together to collect, analyze, interpret, and report out on data that have been collected from the Superfund sites. Student learning objectives that are being evaluated as part of the project include: development of collaborative learning skills that help students understand how to communicate their ideas and how shared responsibilities play important roles in science; and student understanding of the process of science, including how scientists reason with data. The curriculum and instruction being developed is a working model for colleges and universities, including five current partner community colleges in the NY City area, who are interested in bridging the gap between research scientists and science-informed citizens.