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BGSU ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION
PROJECT AWARDED $1.8 MILLION GRANT
BOWLING GREEN, O.--A seven-year
grant totaling more than $1.8 million from the National
Institutes of Health’s Environmental Health Division
has been awarded to BGSU to help teach children about
how human activities affect the environment and the resulting
impact on public health.
Students in Project EXCITE, which
stands for Environmental Health Science Explorations through
Cross-Disciplinary and Investigative Team Experiences,
will also become informed citizens through learning how
environmental policies impact people, and how they can
participate in the decision-making process.
Dr. Chris Keil, an associate professor
of environmental health, Dr. Jodi Haney, an associate
professor in the division of teaching and learning, and
Dr. Bill Armaline, director of the Center for Innovative
and Transformative Education, proposed the project, which
will enable school districts to develop curricula based
on environmental health issues in their specific locales.
"The
EXCITE grant represents one more example of BGSU’s
commitment to collaboration–across colleges and between
the University, public schools and the community–to
improve teaching and learning for pre-K-12 students. We
are enthused to have this opportunity to link University
resources with school and community efforts to enhance
educational opportunities in Northwest Ohio," Armaline
said.
Through Project EXCITE, students
in grades five through nine will study a local environmental
health issue selected by their teachers. Because environmental
health encompasses so many fields, from chemistry to social
studies to health and language arts, teams of teachers
will design and instruct each unit.
The project’s goal is to improve
learning in all subject areas, with a curriculum tied
to the state proficiency expectations.
"Project
EXCITE will provide a framework for schools to restructure
the curriculum, Haney explained. "Ultimately, this
restructuring will benefit students by offering them authentic
problem-based experiences that they can apply to the world
in which they live."
Eventually, the project will involve
18 school teams and more than 5,400 students.
At BGSU, Keil will provide the
scientific expertise, Haney the pedagogical, project-based
learning expertise, and Armaline, as the liaison to the
schools, the support needed to restructure their curricula
to accommodate the project.
Each school will also be assigned
another adviser to answer questions and review their lesson
plans for technical accuracy.
In addition to Keil, BGSU "mentors"
include Dr. Gary Silverman, director of the BGSU environmental
health program, and Dr. Robert Midden, a professor of
chemistry and a faculty member in the Chapman Learning
Community. Mike Bisesi, associate dean of the College
of Allied Health at Medical College of Ohio and the director
of MCO’s public health division, will also be a mentor.
Other team members will include
four teachers and an administrator from their school and
a BGSU undergraduate middle childhood or secondary education
major. Every two years, six teams will be chosen through
a competitive process to participate.
Beginning next summer, the selected
teams of teachers will attend a two- to three-week institute
on environmental health science and project-based learning
at BGSU. In fall 2001 they will develop their own units
for their schools, based on issues of local concern such
as air or water pollution, which they will deliver in
spring 2002. The following summer they will attend a one-week
institute at the Toledo Center for Science and Industry
(COSI) to master the techniques and technologies for their
projects.
Back at school the fall of 2002,
working with the Ohio Department of Education, COSI and
local agencies, they will refine the study unit and complete
the development of teaching materials. The final phase
will be spring 2003, when they again teach the unit.
A resource center will be developed
at BGSU with equipment and other materials, which will
be available to all current and past participants.
Michelle Shafer, who most recently
taught in the Anthony Wayne School District, has been
chosen as project manager.
Participating teachers will get
graduate credit toward their re-certification and will
receive stipends for attending the two summer institutes.
"The
National Institute of Environmental Health Science was
very forward-looking in the way they structured the grant,"
Keil said. Regarding the seven-year time frame, he said,
"They realized that if we really want to effect learning
and be able to measure the results, it would be necessary
to extend it over a fairly long period of time, which
they’ve done." (Posted 11/28/00)
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