Elisabeth Murley
Research Mentor(s): Emily Gochis
Mentor Department: Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER)
Authors: Elisabeth Murley, Katelyn Cafek, Grace Kulmacz, Emily Gochis, Darin Stockdill, Odera Igwe
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 14
Abstract
The Sustainability Teacher Fellowship supports teachers in the Saginaw Bay Watershed area in implementing Place-Based Sustainability Education (PBSE) into their classrooms through professional development, grants, and access to a network of resources. Specifically, our research focuses on better understanding the success of the program in integrating elements of PBSE into the classroom. My research question involves the “action project†component of the program and evaluates the types of action projects done and whether they involve civic engagement or, rather, are informative in nature. Additionally, I examined how the action projects engage with the community and their reach beyond school walls. Data sources used for this analysis included pre and post surveys, teachers’ prepared lesson plans, and final project posters. To analyze these, we used constant comparative analysis to look for trends across participant cohorts the 22-23, 21-22, and 20-21 school years. We have seen trends in the form a presentation takes as an action project. For example, a majority of presentations engage the school community, but do not reach outside to the larger community. In the context of the larger project, it could be beneficial to revise the Professional Development activities to encourage teachers to expand their action projects to outside the classroom and school environment and focus on creating a relationship with the larger community. In terms of social benefit, Place-Based Sustainability Education has been shown to foster connections with the environment, increase social learning, and enhance students’ sense of civic responsibility.
