November 07, 2001

LINCOLN, Neb. — Learning science shouldn't be drudgery for students, especially at the elementary and secondary school levels. While there will always be a certain amount of memorization involved in science education, there is a growing realization among scientists and teachers that the most important thing for students to take out of a science classroom is that science is a way of doing things — not an immutable body of knowledge.

One of the many ways that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is addressing that issue is through the 8-year-old Nebraska Earth Science Education Network, a joint program of the university's Conservation and Survey Division and School of Natural Resource Sciences aimed at improving science education by connecting K-12 educators with university resources.

Supported by a $70,000 National Science Foundation grant and in cooperation with the UNL Teachers College, NESEN brought science education students and secondary-level educators together with university researchers last summer to form a single team investigating questions in the field. Over a four-week period, the participants collaborated on educational approaches that integrated the research into K-12 teaching.

Teams formed to examine climate change; nitrogen cycling in prairie landscapes; windbreaks; groundwater-surface water dynamics and water quality; fertilizer management for the environment; the diet and environment of a prehistoric culture of Chilean Indians called the Chinchorro; agricultural uses of remote sensing; use of rubidium as a corn rootworm tracer; and invertebrates as indicators of water quality.

"The idea was to integrate science teachers into the research experience of scientists here at the university," said Dave Gosselin, director of NESEN and a UNL geologist. Our ultimate goal is to achieve beneficial changes in science education."

The teacher training was aimed at practicing "inquiry-based" or problem-solving methods of science education. Such an approach attempts to replicate what scientists do as they analyze a specific real-world issue, investigate it and evaluate the results. The research teams focused on bringing these lessons into the classroom through several collaborative workshops.

"Actually, through NESEN, we've been doing this for about three years. We're ahead of the nation in living up to these new national standards," said Ron Bonnstetter, UNL professor of education and co-leader of the project. "The researchers Dave brought together were really the believers and the shakers. A scientist's enthusiasm for his or her own field is simply contagious."

Gosselin said he and Bonnstetter are now working together to institutionalize the success of the project by making research an integral part of the science education curriculum in Teachers College.

"We want to incorporate research experience into secondary science education classes," he said. "Ron is requiring his students to get involved in research projects and I'm working to facilitate that with scientists who are interested in getting involved."

Members of the team gave a presentation on NESEN at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America this week.

11/07/01-CF

David Gosselin - Ph.D.
School of Natural Resources
Professor
(402) 472-8919

Ronald Bonnstetter - Ph.D.
Curriculum & Instruction
Professor
(402)472-2443

Charlie Flowerday
Editor/ Publications Officer - Conservation and Survey Division
(402) 472-3471

Department: Conservation & Survey|School of Natural Resource Sciences