Ecology as a 'Vehicle' to
Teach Science Inquiry -
The PROBE Model
Introduction
The role of science and technology in human society is profound. For example, there are issues like climate change, stem cell and cloning research, emerging infectious diseases such as SARS, Eboli and Avian Bird Flu, achieving sustainable development, loss of biodiversity, genetic engineering of crops, bioterrorism, space exploration and developing energy independence. Educational institutions are aspiring to prepare their students to improve their understanding of science in order to help them understand and intelligently respond to these types of challenges. Thus, a strong focus has been placed on substantially altering the way science is taught. With the long established traditional instructional model, teachers impart information; students are passive recipients – they listen, take notes, memorize and then repeat answers that are expected of them on exams. Labs (if taught) typically have students being led step-by-step through science investigations ('cookbook science'). Although this approach is viewed as uninspiring and condition’s students to believe that science is nothing more than a compendium of facts reserved for an elite brainy few, it remains the most widely used approach in K - 12 schools to science instruction in the United States.
One major approach to reforming science education, championed in 1996 by the National Research Council, has been to replace this traditional model with an instructional paradigm – science inquiry – whereby students learn that science is really a process of discovering how the natural world works. Science inquiry instruction promotes the goal of giving students the opportunities to do science on their own without having to be continually led through it. Thus, they are taught powerful skills – how to create research questions, formulate hypotheses, plan and conduct investigations, think critically and logically, examine and interpret evidence, construct and analyze alternate explanations and communicate their findings and analysis. As a result, students learn how they can look at scientific information throughout their life, autonomously analyze it and if necessary respond to it. Furthermore, they are empowered to discover and grow their own knowledge about the world they live in, in any area that interests them – biology, astronomy, chemistry, physics, geology, engineering and the environment. Some individuals whose gender, ethnicity, racial or social backgrounds are underrepresented in science professions, may become inspired to pursue a life long scientific career in fields such as medicine, teaching, research and engineering. Careers that at one time they never imaged possible.
Despite such benefits that science inquiry instruction can bring to K - 12 schools, many students continue to experience an uninspiring traditional science curriculum. Addressing this condition, Ann Haley Mackenzie (Editor, The American Biology Teacher Magazine) wrote – 'In the past 12 years, inquiry has still not become a prevalent entity in many science classrooms.' There are numerous reasons for this void. Here are a few. Good science inquiry instruction is frequently not taught to prospective K - 12 teachers in their educational career. Thus, when an education major becomes gainfully employed at a school, they do not understand how to do it, and they are definitely not confident about their ability when told that they had to implement it (e.g., because a school wants to adhere to State Science Standards, which include the requirement to teach science inquiry). Accordingly, if they have to teach science, then they tend to teach science the way they were taught. Consequently, science instruction will often represent chalk and talk coupled with 'cookbook' science. Unfortunately, teachers sometimes believe that if they indeed use a lab manual or curriculum guide (that provides a series of research activities); they are teaching science inquiry. This is especially true if the document(s) they are using states these words.
There remains a significant void between the lofty aim of improving science education and the reality of what our Nation's current efforts are achieving.
The science of ecology can be a powerful vehicle in helping K - 12 students realize
a passion for and ability to do science.
The remainder of this article describes how Ecology Education Consulting worked with Rider University to overcome these obstacles, thereby facilitating the implementation of science inquiry instruction in high school classrooms in New Jersey for 10 years. Essentially, we offered teachers the opportunity to immerse their students in a free real-world ecology investigation. Since ecology, is a science discipline, then doing hands-on, minds-on ecological research would require students (and their teachers) to learn how to do science inquiry. Once acquired, science inquiry can be applied to any science discipline, not just ecology.
References:
National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards. The National Academies Press: Washington, D.C.
National Research Council. (2000). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards. A Guide for Teaching and Learning. The National Academies Press: Washington, D.C.
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