Katelyn Cafek
Research Mentor(s): Emily Gochis
Mentor Department: Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER)
Authors: Katelyn Cafek, Elisabeth Murley, Grace Kulmacz, Emily Gochis, Darin Stockdill, Odera Igwe
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 10
Abstract
The Sustainability Teacher Fellowship supports the implementation of place-based sustainability education (PBSE) for K12 teachers in the Saginaw Bay Watershed Area through professional development, grants, and PBSE resources. This research was conducted to understand how place-based sustainability education is developed within a classroom setting in order to further develop the professional development and resources provided by the Sustainability Teacher Fellowship. PBSE substantially affects students, teachers, and communities by increasing academic scores, engagement, community unity, community involvement, educator skills, etc. (Marckini-Polk, Jessup & Whitmore). This research examines the specific criteria of Place-Based Sustainability Education (PBSE) Projects that teachers effectively achieve with their current resources. This research uses data from post-program reports, teachers’ prepared lesson plans, and final project posters. Through Constant Comparative Analysis, researchers coded project artifacts by individual categories: action projects, community partner roles, community partner type, public audiences, and instructional activities. The researchers found patterns and similarities between the variables. This specific study rates the success levels of the select cohort utilizing the Guiding Principles for Exemplary Place-Based Stewardship Education: Rubric provided by the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative and then uses comparative methods to determine the most impactful categories. Findings reflect that projects are more successful in increasing student involvement with public outreach than including robust community partners and outdoor learning activities. Understanding the most successful criteria will allow the Fellowship Program to create, maintain, or change professional development resources to add depth to these aspects. This will further the ability of program participants to implement PBSE in K-12 schools.
