Natural Resources 699

Science Education for Civic Participation

Objective. Graduate and upper-level undergraduate students apply their research and practical experiences to examining the following hypothesis: learning about and experiencing global science in informal learning environments will help young people to become more effective citizens in a democratic society.

Larger context. We plan to use this seminar as the first step in building a Cornell working group on "Science Education for Civic Participation." Through readings during fall 2005, we identified example practices from the US and other countries, defined key terms, and developed a list of references and a theoretical framework. During spring semester, each participant is choosing a topic related to his/her research interests and is writing a literature review and conceptual paper. The papers will be compiled into a proceedings and website, and also may be used as the student's literature review thesis chapter. Participants are examining science education for civic participation from the point of view of scientists (e.g., research scientists participating in citizen science programs), educators (e.g., internet-mediated communities of educators), youth (e.g., youth participating in after school environmental science and Spanish clubs), and community members (e.g., women's empowerment related to water resources in developing countries). Green spaces, ranging from urban community gardens to city parks to natural areas, provide the context for the science education and civic participation activities we are examining.