Murray State University COMMON SYLLABUS Revised September 2006 DEPARTMENT: ECE COURSE NUMBER: EDU 661 CREDIT HOURS: 1 I. TITLE: Workshops in Environmental Education II. CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Selected workshops in environmental education. Graded pass/fall. Repeatable to three hours. Prerequisites: admission to graduate study and permission of 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 that builds 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) 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 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)2 the written word that may include poetry, prose, or scientific documenting, and then provide a visuaal 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 more global 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 levels Balancing the issues and facts Sustainability and its impact on the environment Activities to address issues and sustainability topics Identify specific environmental education curriculum projects and how these can become infused into the current Program of Studies and Core Content for Assessment being taught in the schools Model the use of hands-on, minds-on activities, their interdisciplinary nature, and their relationship to national standards in the disciplines Understanding the Kentucky Environmental Education Master Plan Review of literature related to environmental education Problem solving skills for conflict resolution Using technology as a tool for problem solving about the environment VI. 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. PLT WET WILD FLP Leopold OBIS ESSENCE Agriculture In the Classroom Project Adventure/Building Community/Team Building Advanced Outdoor Classroom 1850’s Farm and Adaptations Water Study Watershed Study Arts in the Environment Photography in the Environment (non-camera and camera)3 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 Agriculture Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources 4-H Kentucky Association for Environmental Education Kentucky Division of Water Kentucky Environmental Education Council Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet Land Between the Lakes – TVA National Resources Conservation Service Soil and Water Conservation Service Western Kentucky Environmental Education Consortium IX. GRADING PROCEDURES: Active, positive, participation is the critical