Murray State UniversityCOMMON SYLLABUSRevised September 2006DEPARTMENT: ECE COURSE NUMBER: EDU 661 CREDIT HOURS: 1I. TITLE: Workshops in Environmental EducationII. CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Selected workshops in environmental education. Graded pass/fall. Repeatable to three hours. Prerequisites: admission to graduate study and permissionof the instructor.III. PURPOSES: To provide formal structure for investigating the range of curriculum materials and activities presented by the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education. To further an objective approach to current environmental issues while helping students develop an environmental ethic through an active learning process.IV. COURSE OBJECTIVES: The behaviors indicated below are reflective of but not limited to those advocated by the Kentucky Education Reform Act guidelines. Curriculum connections will be made with KERA Initiatives: Kentucky Learner Goals and Academic Expectations, Program of Studies, and Core Content. Following each objective and enclosed in parentheses are numbers which reference the Kentucky’s Experienced Teacher Standards (ETS) and the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Standards (NAAEE) in “Guidelines for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators.” 1 2 The student will be able to:a. Relate current, regional and specific environmental education issues and place them in an active, hands-on format for their constituents (ETS 2 / NAAEE 1, 2, 3)b. Create, adapt, and adopt curriculum that integrates the disciplines and thatbuilds on a theme of enviornmental education (ETS 1, 2, 3 / NAAEE 1, 2, 3, 4)c. Provide active, experiential models for essential learning in environmental education that intersects the Core Content for Assessment and the Program of Studies (ETS 1, 3, 4, 5 / NAAEE 3, 4)d. Identify and make use of resource materials from local, state, and national agencies which support the environmental education curriculum (ETS 1, 2, 3, 4 / NAAEE 3)e. Construct a personal environmental ethic and definition of environmental education (ETS 2 / NAAEE 2, 3)f. Compare, contrast, analyze, and discern conflicting environmental claims (ETS 2 / NAAEE 3) 1 Simmons, D. et al. Guidelines for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators. (Rock Springs, GA: North American Association for Environmental Education) 2000.2 North American Association for Environmental Education, a specialty group member of the National Council for the Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE)The COE Theme of Educator as Reflective Decision-Maker is addressed in this course by having students collect data or journal with regard to ecosystems, change over time, or environmental problem solving. They then reflect and formalize this in three formats, through the written word that may include poetry, prose, or scientific documenting, and then provide avisuaal record through photography or other artistic forms to complete the process. The EPSB themes that are addressed include “diversity,” “literacy,” and the “achievement gap.” Diversity is addressed through connecting the need for human diversity through modeling this through ecological diversity that states the “health of an ecosystem is directly related to the amount of diversity displayed by the ecosystem.” Literacy and achievement gaps are all connected to the research in the field and practice students have in the field through hands-on-minds-on activities that show how environmental education as a theme (Environment as an Integrating Context, EIC) impacts in a positive and significant way the outcomes of students in classroom and test score performance. This process also enables students to become civically engaged and connect on a broader and moreglobal basis. V. CONTENT OUTLINE: Using the chosen topic, project, or problem to broaden the students' knowledge, understanding, awareness and potential for action will be impacted regarding the following:Current environmental issues at the local, state, national, and international levelsBalancing the issues and factsSustainability and its impact on the environmentActivities to address issues and sustainability topicsIdentify specific environmental education curriculum projects and how these can become infused intothe current Program of Studies and Core Content for Assessment being taught in the schoolsModel the use of hands-on, minds-on activities, their interdisciplinary nature, and their relationship to national standards in the disciplinesUnderstanding the Kentucky Environmental Education Master PlanReview of literature related to environmental educationProblem solving skills for conflict resolutionUsing technology as a tool for problem solving about the environmentVI. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES: Experiences in the field will be provided that relate not only the Core Content for Assessment and the Program of Studies, but includes modeling activities and programs that address various learning styles, Multiple Intelligences (especially The Naturalist) in a problem solving, hands-on approach. Thes may include programs and certification in the following. PLTWETWILDFLPLeopoldOBISESSENCEAgriculture In the Classroom2Project Adventure/Building Community/Team BuildingAdvanced Outdoor Classroom1850’s Farm and AdaptationsWater StudyWatershed StudyArts in the EnvironmentPhotography in the Environment (non-camera and camera)VII. LABORATORY EXPERIENCES: Field trips to Land Between the Lakes, the 1850’2 Farm, the Nature Station, the dams, wastewater treatment plants, land-fills, Saleto Center, the Resource Room of the Center for Environmental Education, the non-formal education community, including the NRCS, Fish and Wildlife, 4-H, Soil and Water Conservation Service. VIII. RESOURCES:Center for Environmental Education, MSU Department of AgricultureDepartment of Fish and Wildlife Resources4-HKentucky Association for Environmental EducationKentucky Division of WaterKentucky Environmental Education CouncilKentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection CabinetLand Between the Lakes – TVANational Resources Conservation ServiceSoil and Water Conservation ServiceWestern Kentucky Environmental Education ConsortiumIX. GRADING PROCEDURES: Active, positive, participation is the critical factor in the grade associated with workshops. Grades will be assigned on the basis of the quality of participation dureing the field portion fo the workshop, on the basis of self-assessment as it relates