In the coming decades, the general public will be required ever more often to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local to global scales. Thus it is of fundamental importance to ensure that higher quality education about these ecological issues raises the environmental literacy of the general public. In order to achieve this, teachers need to be trained as well as classroom practice enhanced. This volume focuses on the integration of environmental education into science teacher education. The book begins by providing readers with foundational knowledge of environmental education as it applies to the discipline of science education. It relates the historical and philosophical underpinnings of EE, as well as current trends in the subject that relate to science teacher education. Later chapters examine the pedagogical practices of environmental education in the context of science teacher education. Case studies of environmental education teaching and learning strategies in science teacher education, and instructional practices in K-12 science classrooms, are included. This book shares knowledge and ideas about environmental education pedagogy and serves as a reliable guide for both science teacher educators and K-12 science educators who wish to insert environmental education into science teacher education. Coverage includes everything from the methods employed in summer camps to the use of podcasting as a pedagogical aid. Studies have shown that schools that do manage to incorporate EE into their teaching programs demonstrate significant growth in student achievement as well as improved student behavior. This text argues that the multidisciplinary nature of environmental education itself requires problem-solving, critical thinking and literacy skills that benefit students’ work right across the curriculum.
Author(s): Robert L. Carter, Bora Simmons (auth.), Alec M. Bodzin, Beth Shiner Klein, Starlin Weaver (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 352
Tags: Science Education; Teaching and Teacher Education; Educational Technology
Front Matter....Pages i-xl
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
The History and Philosophy of Environmental Education....Pages 3-16
Professional Preparation for Science Teachers in Environmental Education....Pages 17-30
Approaches to Environmental Education....Pages 31-49
Environmental Education Within Early Childhood....Pages 51-64
Environmental Education Service-Learning in Science Teacher Education....Pages 65-79
Beyond Terra firma : Bringing Ocean and Aquatic Sciences to Environmental and Science Teacher Education....Pages 81-94
Front Matter....Pages 95-95
Promoting the Use of Outdoor Learning Spaces by K-12 Inservice Science Teachers Through an Outdoor Professional Development Experience....Pages 97-110
Integrating Environmental Education Field Trip Pedagogy into Science Teacher Preparation....Pages 111-126
“Eeew! There’s Dew on My Toes”: Common Characteristics of Preservice Elementary Teacher Learning in Environmental Education and Instructional Strategies for Science Teacher Educators....Pages 127-142
Name That Plant! Overcoming Plant Blindness and Developing a Sense of Place Using Science and Environmental Education....Pages 143-157
Place-based Inquiry: Advancing Environmental Education in Science Teacher Preparation....Pages 159-171
Summer Methods in Summer Camps: Teaching Projects WILD, WET, and Learning Tree at an Outdoor Environmental Education Center....Pages 173-189
Teachers Connecting Urban Students to their Environment....Pages 191-207
Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Mental Models of the Environment....Pages 209-223
Pedagogy, Environmental Education, and Context: Promoting Knowledge Through Concept Mapping....Pages 225-236
Unraveling the Scientific, Social, Political, and Economic Dimensions of Environmental Issues Through Role-Playing Simulations....Pages 237-253
Exploring Environmental Education Through Ecofeminism: Narratives of Embodiment of Science....Pages 255-266
The Value of Nonformal Environmental Education-Based Professional Development in Preservice Science Teacher Preparation....Pages 267-279
Using Environmental Education Project Curricula with Elementary Preservice Teachers....Pages 281-296
Situated Learning in Environmental Education: Using Geospatial Technologies with Preservice Secondary Teachers....Pages 297-309
Front Matter....Pages 95-95
Using Podcasting to Address Nature-Deficit Disorder....Pages 311-321
Integrating Web-based Activities and Site-based Experiences to Investigate Environmental Issues....Pages 323-336
Back Matter....Pages 337-352
