Unifying Life: Placing Urban Tree Diversity in an Evolutionary Context

纽约（CUNY）正在开展一项为期3年的探索性项目，以开发和测试围绕手持移动的技术构建的课程资源，研究这些材料如何培养城市中学生对当地生物多样性和进化模式的兴趣和参与。使用iPhone应用程序Leafsnap，该项目允许学生使用模式识别软件轻松识别各种植物。该项目旨在通过共同设计过程，围绕Leafsnap应用程序为中学生开发课程资源;在三名纽约中学教师的教室里对课程资源进行试点测试;开发和修订评估工具，以衡量学生的成绩;和外地-在10位纽约中学教师的课堂上测试课程资源，并分析结果，以确定Leafsnap应用程序如何影响城市中学学校学生学习生物多样性和进化模式。研究结果将用于修改课程，并通过Leafsnap应用程序在网上传播。在项目的第一年，东哈莱姆两所中学的课程资源将被使用。第二年，这些资源将用于纽约市10所公立中学教师的课堂。在第三年，这些资源将被整合到中学教师生命科学课程中，作为纽约市立大学中学科学教育研究生课程的一部分，该课程专门为纽约市公立中学的教师候选人做准备。此外，在该项目的第三年，课程资源将通过Leafsnap网站传播给更广泛的在线受众。该项目通过解决K-12科学学习新框架的三个主要方面，促进了对历史进化背景下代表性不足的城市中学生学习当地生物多样性的理解：核心科学内容、科学实践和贯穿所有科学学科的概念。治疗前和治疗后的临床访谈与学生将进行，以提供定性的见解如何使用Leafsnap课程影响学生的理解和动机，识别和组织树木的多样性。

City College of New York (CUNY) is conducting a 3-year exploratory project to develop and test curricular resources built around handheld mobile technology to study how these materials foster urban middle school student interest and engagement with local biodiversity and the patterns of evolution. Using Leafsnap, an iPhone application, the project allows students to use pattern recognition software to readily identify various species of plants. The project aims to develop curricular resources for middle school students built around the Leafsnap app through a co-design process; to pilot test curricular resources in the classrooms of three New York middle school teachers; to develop and revise assessment tools to measure student outcomes; and to field-test curricular resources in the classrooms of ten New York middle school teachers and analyze results to determine how the Leafsnap app affects urban middle school student learning of biodiversity and the patterns of evolution. The results will be used to modify curriculum and disseminate it online with the Leafsnap app.During the project's first year, the curricular resources in two middle schools in East Harlem will be used. In the second year, the resources will be used in the classrooms of ten New York City (NYC) public middle school teachers. In the third year, these resources will be integrated into a life science for middle school teachers course as part of CUNY's graduate program in secondary science education, a program specifically designed to prepare teacher candidates for careers in NYC public middle schools. Also, in the project's third year, the curricular resources will be disseminated through the Leafsnap website to a wider online audience.The project advances understanding of underrepresented urban middle school student learning of local biodiversity in a historical evolutionary context by addressing the three major dimensions of the new Framework for K-12 Science Learning: core science content, the practice of science, and concepts that crosscut all scientific disciplines. Pre- and post-treatment clinical interviews with students will be conducted to provide qualitative insights into how use of the Leafsnap curriculum impacts students' understanding and motivation for identifying and organizing tree diversity.