The Role of Coherent Research-Based Curricular Unit in Mediating Students’ Integrated Vision of Human Impact on the Environment

Abstract

[EN] The ongoing development of the high school ecology curricular unit presented in this proposal is a response to the new tide of educational reforms in the United States. This curricular unit represents an attempt to frame K-12 science curriculum around three dimensions: crosscutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas and scientific practices recently released in the report on a Framework for New K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012). Integration of three dimensions into the development of agriculture-related curricular unit reflects complexity and logic inherent in science education facilitating deeper conceptual understanding. The development of this curricular unit takes place under the initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project and explores the efficacy of the agriculture-related unit on students’ integrated vision of the human impact on natural systems. Research project seeks to recognize the characteristics that identify research-based curriculum (Clements, 2007). The interdisciplinary nature of this project has the potential to investigate how close adherence to features identifying research-based curriculum can support the development of coherent curricular unit mediating students’ integrated vision of environmental issues. Mediation results of this nature have larger implications on future efficacy studies of curriculum intervention.