EDSC 5975 - Effective Standards Based Environmental Science Education for Practicing Informal Educators

Course Description

This course is designed to prepare practicing informal educators to connect teachers to PEI's FieldSTEM outdoor education tools and The River Mile network plus locally relevant opportunities. FieldSTEM provides the practices and processes to explore the Columbia River Watershed components. The National Park Services' education program "The River Mile" provides content, citizen science, and a network that connects the land and the water for informal educators and teachers to engage students in inquiry-based activities. Informal educators learn how to use PEI's FieldSTEM Guides to support teachers to take students outdoors, and guide students to develop their own field investigations. The course has been designed for the purpose of preparing Columbia River Watershed based informal educators to share their knowledge and opportunities with teachers so they will be able to competently guide students to explore the ecosystem health of the Watershed.

Course Outline

PEI's FieldSTEM Model
NGSS and FieldSTEM
FieldSTEM Common Core Performance Tasks
Field Investigation
Field Engineering
Career Connected Learning
Signature Field Experience
GIS Technology
Teachers Support
Community Connections

Learner Outcomes

By the end of this course informal educators will be competent to support teachers to:

Access Pacific Education Institutes FieldSTEM resources to focus on the Columbia River Watershed as a learning lab accessing The River Mile Program content, field study and networking opportunitites
Take students outdoors on high impact field experiences, and guide students to conduct field investigations
Guide students to share their results digitally through GIS