Mission of the 1997 Woodrow Wilson Environmental Science Institute

This document is intended to assist participants and academic team members alike in reflecting on what we are trying to accomplish at this institute. This final version clarifies some points based on questions and comments about the earlier draft version.

1. CONTENT & PROCESS

THEMES: The team project reflects the themes of the integrated environmental sciences (including the human dimension):

1. Systems
2. Models
3. Constancy and Change
4. Scale

INQUIRY: The process of the institute is collaborative inquiry through team problem solving. Thus the team project and the process for accomplishing the project demonstrate inquiry-based science. Skills necessary for inquiry in the environmental sciences include:

1. How to use the Earth Systems Approach in science teaching
2. How to use new tools and technologies of collaboration
3. How to work as a team to envision, design, and carry out a research project

[As tools for evaluation, see inquiry and skills inventories.]

2. LEADERSHIP

The project (and other individual and team activities) make meaningful contact with a broader public, using the web and other modes of communication. This includes:

1. working with email and the web at the institute, taking advantage of the Internet for project outreach (all participants);
2. the commitment to at least 20 hours of presentation to district colleagues (all participants); and
3. NSF-funded institutes at Earth System Science Education (ESSE) colleges and other sites (subset of participants), to reach a total of at least 400 second-tier participants.

3. STANDARDS

The project and process to get to the product reflect environmental science standards (in content, pedagogy, etc.), both local and national. Mapping local standards to national standards (and deciding which ones to map to) is an on-going institute activity. [For an explanation of how this will work, see Weaving Content and Pedagogy, Layer One.]

4. TRANSLATING THE SUMMER EXPERIENCE INTO IMPROVED STUDENT LEARNING IN ONE'S CLASSROOM

Reflection will be integrated into all the above and all institute activities. Evaluation, follow-up, and support will include sharing these reflections with your colleagues.

During the workshop, participants will design and post on the web an action plan for implementing the inquiry approach in their classrooms. This plan will constitute the basis for continued support and interaction after the workshop. [For further information, see Weaving Content and Pedagogy, Layer Three.]

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281 Tel:(609)452-7007 Fax:(609)452-0066