Christine Moseley

The Draw‐An‐Environment Test Rubric (DAET‐R): exploring pre‐service teachers’ mental models of the environment

The use of drawings as representations of personal mental models or images is one method of analyzing personal beliefs. This article discusses the development of the Draw‐An‐Environment Test and Rubric (DAET‐R) for assessing the mental models or images of the environment held by pre‐service teachers. It also provides results of preliminary research using the DAET‐R to assess pre‐service teachers’ personal beliefs and understandings about the environment, as interpreted from their drawings. Results of this pilot study using the DAET‐R for scoring early childhood pre‐service teachers’ drawings of the environment suggest that the participants’ mental models of the environment are incomplete. Results of this study also show that the DAET‐R can provide information about pre‐service teachers’ beliefs about the environment useful to teacher educators in the development and delivery of environmental education.

A Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Pre-Service Teachers' Misconceptions about Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Layer Depletion, and Acid Rain.

This study describes the development and validation of a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test, the atmosphere-related environmental problems diagnostic test (AREPDiT), to reveal common misconceptions of global warming (GW), greenhouse effect (GE), ozone layer depletion (OLD), and acid rain (AR). The development of a two-tier diagnostic test procedure as described by Treagust constitutes the framework for this study. To differentiate a lack of knowledge from a misconception, a certainty response index is added as a third tier to each item. Based on propositional knowledge statements, related literature, and the identified misconceptions gathered initially from 157 pre-service teachers, the AREPDiT was constructed and administered to 256 pre-service teachers. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the pre-service teachers’ scores was estimated to be 0.74. Content and face validations were established by senior experts. A moderate positive correlation between the participants’ both-tiers scores and their certainty scores indicated evidence for construct validity. Therefore, the AREPDiT is a reliable and valid instrument not only to identify pre-service teachers’ misconceptions about GW, GE, OLD, and AR but also to differentiate these misconceptions from lack of knowledge. The results also reveal that a majority of the respondents demonstrated limited understandings about atmosphere-related environmental problems and held six common misconceptions. Future studies could test the AREPDiT as a tool for assessing the misconceptions held by pre-service teachers from different programs as well as in-service teachers and high school students.

The Effect of an Integrated Science and Mathematics Content-Based Course on Science and Mathematics Teaching Efficacy of Preservice Elementary Teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an earth systems science course (integrated mathematics and science content) on preservice elementary teachers’ mathematics and science teaching efficacy. Paired t-tests revealed that the personal mathematics and science teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy significantly increased over the course of the semester for the experimental group (those students enrolled in the earth systems science course). For the control group (those students not enrolled in the course), however, there was no significant increase.

Assessing K-12 Teachers' Personal Environmental Education Teaching Efficacy and Outcome Expectancy.

The purpose of this study was to determine change in environmental education teaching efficacy beliefs of K–12 teachers who participated in two weeks of an intensive summer earth systems science institute using the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) curriculum as the conceptual framework. Thirty-eight teachers participated daily in eight hours of Basic GLOBE activities the first week and Advanced GLOBE activities the second week. In addition, teachers participated in one orientation session, two follow-up seminars, and were required to develop an action implementation plan to implement GLOBE activities and protocols into their classrooms during the following fall semester. Teachers were given the Environmental Education Efficacy Belief Instrument (EEEBI) at the orientation session, on the last day of the summer activities, and a third time at the last follow-up seminar in the fall. These scores were analyzed for any significant change in personal environmental teaching efficacy (PETE) and environmental teaching outcome expectancy (ETOE). Results indicated that teachers reported significant gains in both PETE and ETOE immediately following the workshop. While mean scores on the two subscales increased slightly between the conclusion of the summer institute and the end of the fall semester, the increase was not significant.

Science Buddies: An Authentic Context for Developing Preservice Teachers' Understandings of Learning, Teaching, and Scientific Inquiry

Methods courses in teacher education programs have made a transition in the last years toward field-based experiences as part of the preparation for teaching science in the elementary school. However, little conclusive evidence exists as to any desirable influence field experiences are having on science teaching attitudes and learning.The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the process, discuss the effectiveness and impacts, and highlight the implications of an extended field experience—the Science Buddy Program — on elementary pre-service teachers’ learning and conceptualization in the context of science teaching.Results indicate that participation in this field experience that included pre-service teachers facilitating science learning with elementary children was beneficicial in the construction of the pedagogical content knowledge of the pre-service teachers. This experience also fostered positive attitudes toward science and science teaching and offered an excellent opportunity for future educators to observe science learning in progress.

Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Mental Models of the Environment

A major premise underlying this chapter is that if preservice teachers are aware of their mental models of the environment, they will want to develop more accurate images that inform how they will teach about the environment in the future. This chapter describes how we used drawings as a survey tool to uncover preservice teachers’ mental models of the environment, our findings, and programmatic changes that we implemented as a response to our study. Building on previous science education research using drawings that describe preservice teachers’ beliefs about the subject of science, we developed the Draw-An-Environment Test (DAET). We then developed a rubric based on the NAAEE Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators (2004) for scoring the drawings, the Draw-An-Environment Test Rubric (DAET-R), to quantitatively analyze the data collected using the DAET.

Sense of Place: Is It More Than a Connection to a Physical Place?

What are preservice teachers’ definition of sense of place and what counts as ‘place’ for them? Do their definitions of place mirror the environmental education (EE) literature that purports a one dimensional, biophysical, rooted sense of place? Or do their definitions reflect the conceptual framework expressed in Education for Sustainability (EfS) that view sense of place as being multidimensional and diverse, built on an array of factors, including socially, culturally, psychologically, biophysically, and politically situated practices? This chapter discusses research conducted to obtain a baseline understanding of how preservice teachers define sense of place. Our research supports a multidimensional model of sense of place, an EfS conceptual framework of place consciousness composed of multiple factors. The focus of this inquiry is to contribute to a theory of place consciousness that can advance practice in environmental education teacher preparation.

Programmatic Implementation of Environmental Education in an Elementary Educator Preparation Program: A Case Study

This chapter provides an overview of research regarding preservice teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about the environment and describes one approach to engaging future teachers in environmental education within an educator preparation program curriculum. The successes and challenges of retooling one educator preparation program to include EE are discussed. Also, findings of a national survey conducted to determine the extent of the inclusion of EE in educator preparation programs are reported. Based on this research and survey findings, it is recommended as initial steps that educator preparation programs tap into the greatest identified supports for inclusion of EE, namely collaboration between formal and non-formal education agencies and organizations, student interest, and available curriculum materials.

“Where Are the Field Investigations?” An Investigation of the (Implied) Paradox of Learning About Environmental Education in a Virtual Classroom

There is an inherent paradox in the tenets of environmental education and the constructs of virtual classrooms. Is there a role for distance education in environmental education? Does learning about environmental education in an online course context contradict the basic principles of environmental education? This article discusses a collaborative inquiry research study that investigated student learning in an online environmental education course.RésuméIl y a un paradoxe intrinsèque dans les principes qui sous-tendent la formation environnementale et les construits des classes virtuelles. La formation à distance a-t-elle une place dans la formation sur l’environnement? L’apprentissage sur la formation environnementale dans le contexte d’un cours en ligne contredit-il les principes de base de la formation environnementale? Cet article se penche sur une étude collaborative visant à analyser l’apprentissage des étudiants dans un cours à distance portant sur la formation environnementale.

Oh, Deer!: Predator and Prey Relationships--Students Make Natural Connections through the Integration of Mathematics and Science.

This article describes an activity that integrates both mathematics and science while inviting students to make connections between the two and learn significant concepts in a meaningful way. Students work within the real-world context of wildlife population scenarios to make predictions, test their hypotheses, and determine and construct graphs that best represent their data while learning the importance of animal habitats and the factors that impact wildlife populations in continually changing ecosystems. Discussion and experiences with students prior to this activity should ensure that they understand ideas about carrying capacity, components of habitat, and limiting factors.