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A number of years ago, while I was teaching science
to a very diverse group of high school students, I became curious
about how students learn about the natural world. A couple of ideas
have shed light on this question. The first is that what people
learn about the natural world results from the interaction between
what they already believe and what they are being taught. The second
idea is that what people learn is substantially influenced by the
social and cultural context in which they are participating. These
ideas are supported by studies on learning and cognition, the history
and philosophy of science and my cross-cultural experiences primarily
in Thailand. I use knowledge from these two fields and my international
experiences to develop both my research and teaching.
I am presently working on understanding people’s
interdisciplinary knowledge of the Earth as interacting natural
and social systems. I’m involved in the development of a Web-based
assessment tool called the Environmental Image Assessment. It presents
images from around the world along with a series of questions intended
to reveal what people understand and how they feel about their environment
and their interactions with it. The research on this project is
being conducted in the U.S. and Thailand. We plan to use the results
to develop Web-based instruction that will take into account the
prior knowledge and cultural background of the students.
The courses I typically teach are CI 5537,
Principles of Environmental Education, CI 5535 Foundations of Science
Education and CI 5533 Current Developments in Science Teaching.
Selected publications
Finley, F. N. and Enochs, L. (2006) Impacts
of Science Standards on Curriculum and Instruction in Earth Science
Education, in Sunal, D. W. and Wright, E. L. The Impact of State
and National Standards on K-12 Science Technology. Information Age
Publishing, Grenwhich, CT
Finley, F. N. (2002) Environmental and Science
Education in the U. S.: Lessons from the successful Sciences. Chulalongkorn
Educational Review 8(2), January.
Finley, F. N., & Cogan, J. J. (1993). Global
environmental education curricula: Interacting natural and social
systems as an organizing theme. School of Education Review,
6, 131-141.
Finley, F. N., & Heller, R. (1991). Earth
science education for the 21st century. National Center for
Earth Science Education, American Geological Institute.
Featured research and outreach
September 2006
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