INQUIRY-BASED EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION THROUGH ISSUE INVESTIGATION

The purpose of this presentation is to describe an inquiry-based teaching strategy known as "issue investigation" and discuss its use as related to Earth Science instruction. Issue investigation involves students in the identification, analysis, and primary investigation of enironmental issues and the development of action plans pertinent to issue resolution and reflective of responsible citizenship behaviors. Issue investigation has been used in grades K-12 and well as with undergrauate students and in teacher professional development programs.

Environmental issues are the result of unresolved problems associated with human interactions with Earth Systems. Extraction and consumption of mineral resources, disposal of wastes, and various uses of the land and waterways are among the many kinds of human activities that create environmental problems and the resulting issues.

This presentation will endeavor to explain the issue investigation teaching strategy in terms of how it is implemented in the classroom and how students appear to benefit from it . Issue investigation is linked in this paper to student awareness of Earth Science related environmental issues, the construction of meaningful knowledge in Earth Science, and the development of critical thinking skills and responsible citizenship behaviors. The paper will detail how the issue investigation strategy meets the criteria of inquiry -based instruction and also provide examples of Earth Science related issues our teacher education students have investigated over the past ten years.