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Environmental Studies - Environmental Education Program

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Student Projects - Environmental Education - Environmental Studies - Antioch University New England

Environmental Education Program

Student Projects

Writing

Communication of ideas depends on clear and engaging discourse through writing. Assignments might include:

Succinct and directed research and reaction papers that critique existing theory and practice.
Essays that identify personal and professional values and beliefs and support work in the field of environmental education.
Observations and anecdotal records of behavior drawn from a diversity of cultural, social, or environmental situations.
Text for exhibits, interpretive signs, public service announcements, radio scripts and other venues of communication.
Effective use of electronic media venues like websites, blogs, greenwire listservs, etc.

Philosophy Statement and Portfolio

Formulating a succinct and comprehensive statement of the values and beliefs that underlie your professional choice as an environmental educator into a set of directives for action is one focal point of the program. Students write a paper stating the ’whys’ that support their environmental values and actions, life-style choices, advocacy and professional goals. This is a personal statement that helps one return to their center when encountering the jungle of possibilities and controversies that define this work. It is a professional directional arrow. The statement and a portfolio of exemplary work are cultivated throughout the program and culminate as a professional portfolio in the final semester.

Tree of Environmentalism

This assignment is a seminal activity in the Foundations of Environmental Education class and uses the metaphor of a tree to capture each student’s personal and professional evolution as an environmental educator. It is a good example of the use of art and alternative forms of exhibiting learning used in this program. The ’roots’ represent the supportive foundation of values, beliefs, and actions that have led students toward this professional choice. Information listed here might include mentors, parents, books or academic coursework, epiphanies, and significant transformative experiences. The trunk contains the dynamic flow of transitions, transformations, controversies, and interchanges with significant others that occur as the influence of the ’roots’ cause behavioral changes. The branches and leaves contain the fruition of the rooted values and transformative experiences in the kinds of work, life-style or recreational choices, participation in advocacy or activism, and educational pursuits one chooses.

Interpretive Trail and Educational Exhibit Design

Several classes involve students in the development of educationally rich and engaging interpretive projects for the public. This demands capturing an environmental concept like the essence of a landscape or the state of a particular habitat in a one-minute lesson. Whether in a zoo or museum setting or the construction of a nature trail, grabbing the attention of a person who wants both a recreationally entertaining and an educational experience in a short-shot is a challenge. Students work through the creation of a Big Idea into tactics and learning strategies to plant knowledge, provocative questions and concepts that enhance ecological literacy and educate about environmental change and responsible action. Classes work on site at the Bronx Zoo, the Appalachian Mountain Club huts, Children’s Museums, urban parks, Audubon-certified golf courses, and nature centers.

Curriculum Design for Formal and Non-Formal Audiences

Environmental education takes place in public and private schools as well as public institutions like museums, nature centers, residential learning centers and zoos. Knowing how to develop of a course of study in a variety of settings is essential. Students have created curricular projects like:

The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Mountain High Classroom (a week-long residential program for 5th and 6th grade school children).
Revised the Rainforest Alliance curriculum for their website.
Evaluated and researched curriculum for the CEEonline website.
Created curriculum for public schools in place-based bioregional education.
Designed teacher training curricula using the environment as an integrating context for all grade levels.

Environmental Communications and Media

Students actively learn to communicate about environmental issues, ecological events and life-style choices through a variety of media venues. Classes may include a focus on:

"Writing for the Real World" of magazines, newspapers and journals.
Learning techniques of radio journalism and TV.
Writing children’s books.
Designing websites like the Center for Environmental Education Online resource center.

Educating for Sustainability

Courses and projects aim to challenge the student into new fields of ecologically responsive design and the creation of ’ecologically sustainable living and learning centers.’ Students will have opportunities to participate in designing learning experiences that guide public and private teachers through the comprehensive ’greening’ of their schools or that help nature centers practice what they teach through their building facility. Students may be involved in projects that organize more local foods in school cafeterias, community-sustained gardening or urban food projects.

Last Updated: 6/18/07