| Abstract Detail
Teaching Section Clary, Renee M. [1]. Plants and the Planet on Which They Live: An EarthScholars Research Group Integrated Biogeology Reflection. In 2002, botanist James Wandersee and geologist Renee Clary founded the EarthScholars Research Group for quality and effective integrated botanical/biological and geological instruction. The EarthScholars’ two areas of research specialization are (1) fundamental understanding, integrated design, and improvement of geological and biological (with emphasis on botanical) education programs at public informal science education sites, specifically fossil parks, nature parks, arboreta, and botanic gardens; and (2) the improvement of formal geology and biology classroom instruction at middle school, high school, and college levels through instructional innovations based on archive-based, visual, and graphic research that is informed by the histories of geology and biology, and based upon the learning theory of human constructivism. Through more than a decade of research, the EarthScholars Group researched, investigated, and developed multiple constructs through which effective integrated science education could include both botany/biology and geology principles. The group produced 52 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 book chapters, 49 electronic publications and 156 research presentations that attested to the effective integration of botanical and geological constructs. Some of the EarthScholars’ integrated topics include Linnaean classification, MicroWorld studies with pollen and microfossils, interesting episodes from the history of science, citizen science investigations, stromatolites, seed banks, creative natural selection activities, fossils, the Coal Cycle, coprolite investigations, “green” root beer investigations, amber, petrified wood, volcanic eruptions and repopulation of decimated areas, and sense of place writing templates. In 2013, US Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS; Achieve, 2013) were released and promoted an integrated, interdisciplinary view of STEM education. This further affirmed EarthScholars Group’s mission, which has researched and conducted integrated STEM for more than a decade, for improved public understanding of botany and geology. This session is dedicated to the memory of the late James Wandersee (1946 – 2014), founding partner and co-director of EarthScholars Research Group. Log in to add this item to your schedule
1 - Mississippi State University, Geosciences, P.O. Box 1705, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA
Keywords: botany education EarthScholars Research Group human constructivist theory informal education integrated science education Next Generation Science Standards.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections Session: P Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014 Time: 5:30 PM Number: PTE002 Abstract ID:65 Candidate for Awards:None |