ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND GEOLOGY

An analysis of teacher education programs at the University of Akron prompted the development of courses to address nature of science in an inquiry context. Two new courses, “Field-Laboratory Studies in Environmental Science: Service Learning” and Geology Service Learning” were developed with the primary educational objective of providing students with a research experience where they collect, analyze, and interpret real world data. Students work in teams to complete a semester long, service learning, research project that focuses on resource management issues of the local Metro Parks. Collaboration between a science education and a geology instructor produced an evaluation plan to assess variables of interest (students' acquisition of environmental geology concepts and skills, and their conception of the nature of science). Data sources included students' responses to a standardized nature of science instrument, students' preliminary analyses of an environmental problem, students' responses to email prompts, and their preliminary drafts and final report. Findings suggest that nature of science concepts must be taught contextually, that is, must be experienced within an inquiry-based context. The final reports submitted to the Metro Parks are evidence that by the end of the course students were capable of doing science and producing meaningful results. Student data and recommendations were used by resource management staff of the Metro Parks to make significant decisions.