Sixth-Grade Students' Conceptions of Environmental Design

• In Event: 46.086 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 46.086-6 - Issues in Environmental Education

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards require teachers to incorporate engineering into their science instruction. In this study, we asked students to design an environmentally-friendly home to determine their conceptions of environmental design and use of systems thinking. Students held a mixture of appropriate conceptions and misconceptions about sustainability before instruction. After instruction, students both learned more appropriate conceptions and displayed evidence of more advanced systems thinking by considering not only individual variables but also how those variables interact with each other. This study describes one way in which teachers can approach the integration of engineering and science and promote systems thinking, which provides a more holistic understanding of science content as it relates to a real world context.

Authors

• Jeanne L. Brunner, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Maya Israel, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign