CLEAN Teleconference Call March 3, 2015
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Place, community, and biosphere: An overview of the TERC Life Science Initiative's climate education work
Abstract: Climate change education is one of the strands of work in the Life Sciences Initiative of the Center for School Reform at TERC. Beginning in the late 1980s, an early initiative included The Global Lab, the first curriculum available nationally that introduced probes and computers in the classroom. Another early product was the Ecology curriculum, with a hands-on unit on carbon cycling and climate change, presented from an ecological perspective.
Since that time, our work has evolved through successive phases of development, beginning with the presentation of concepts related to climate change informed by the learning sciences, through increasing understanding of the importance of place and identity, to an emphasis on place identity and an understanding of community involvement.
In this talk, we will describe this evolution, using examples drawn from programs and products we have developed. We will elaborate on how theoretical frameworks drawn from conservation psychology and theories of behavior change have come to play a prominent role in how we think about engaging learners with the complexity of climate change.
Gilly Puttick's Bio: Gilly Puttick is currently a co-leader of the Life Sciences Initiative at TERC. Since 1991, Puttick has conducted research on science teaching and learning, developed life science curricula for elementary, middle and high school, and designed professional development programs for middle and high school science teachers. Her recent work has focused on climate change education, with the development of curricula and programs for formal and informal educational settings. Research and development projects include: Biocomplexity and the habitable planet, Girls Energy Conservation Corps, Scratch Girls: Designing games to learn about climate change, and The Climate Lab.
Brian Drayton Bio: Brian Drayton is Co-Director of the Center for School Reform, and co-leader of TERC's Life Sciences Initiative. Over the past 25 years, Drayton has conducted research on science pedagogy, helped create and research electronic communities for science education, and developed curriculum materials for middle and high school. TERC curricula related to climate change include the Global Lab; Ecology: a systems approach, Biocomplexity for a habitable planet, and The Climate Lab.
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