Learning Sustainability Science Through Community-Based Practices

• In Event: Community-Based Science Learning: Models to Make Classroom Learning Relevant to Students' Everyday Lives

Abstract

Objectives
Community based practices that students observe in their everyday life are important sources of scientific knowledge (Bouillion & Gomez, 2001). For example, making maple sugar syrup is a community practice that requires an understanding of plant physiology, temperature changes in the environment and molecular biology. Along with formal science knowledge these practices that are embedded within the community can also engage students in understanding sustainability (How can these practices sustain themselves?), traditional ecological knowledge (Historically how have local communities supported these practices?) and systems thinking (How do different components/resources interact with one another to sustain these practices?).
Through collaborations with rural and indigenous partners, we designed the SPIRALS (Supporting and Promoting Indigenous and Rural Adolescents’ Learning of Science) curriculum to use the context of local community based practices as a way to demonstrate how scientific understanding exists in youth’s everyday experiences. As a part of the curriculum students explore community-based practices, so as to learn about science, sustainability, traditional ecological knowledge and systems thinking.
We present our findings about how students learn science, sustainability, systems thinking and traditional ecological knowledge through engagement with community-based practices. As a part of the presentation we highlight student inquiry about several different community based practices.

Methods
The SPIRALS curriculum guides early adolescents in an investigation about different practices within their communities. The activities build on each other from an exploration of personal and community sustainability to a deeper inquiry about one local community practice that the learners have chosen. At two times during the curriculum, students engage in making concept maps. In these maps students highlight the components/resources used within a community practice and emphasize how these components interact with one another so as to make the system sustainable. Pre/post surveys were given to determine students’ connection to place and their motivation to learn science. Pre/post surveys were given to determine students’ connection to place and their motivation to learn science.

Data sources
The study uses pre- and post- surveys and curriculum artifacts (e.g. concept maps of the community practices) to assess how students understand science, sustainability, systems thinking and traditional ecological knowledge in the context of their local communities.

Results
Data analysis from about 100 learners lends support for our hypothesis that contextualizing science learning to the local community practices has increased student understanding of science, sustainability, systems thinking and traditional ecological knowledge. Preliminary analysis of the student concept maps show that students have began to consider the interconnections between the components of a system.
After exploring a practice through inquiry they were better able to understand the inputs, outputs and feedback loops that exists within a system.

Scholarly significance
The merit of this study is its potential to examine ways to make science learning relevant to the student’s everyday life. By presenting community based practices as science learning environments this study addresses the disconnect between community-based and school-based forms of science.

Authors

• Sameer Honwad, University of New Hampshire

• Eleanor Diane Abrams, University of New Hampshire

• Michael J. Middleton, University of Massachusetts - Boston