Performing Department
Center for Sci And The Schools
Non Technical Summary
The APPL-RED professional development program addresses the AFRI Challenge Area of "Food Security" by involving middle and high school teachers serving underrepresented populations in research associated with the vital ecosystems services provided by pollinators. Nearly 90% of flowering plant species and 75% of our global agricultural crops use pollinators to set seed and produce fruit (Klein, et al. 2016; Ollerton, et al. 2011). Importantly, these fruit, vegetable, and nut crops provide the micronutrients we need in our diets to support active and healthy lifestyles (Chaplin-Kramer, et al. 2014; Ellis, et al. 2011). However, populations of pollinators, including both managed and wild bees are in decline, which has promoted scientists, policymakers and the public to evaluate factors causing these declines and deveo-p new approaches to conserve and promote pollinators (Evans, 2015; Grozinger, 2015). The plight of the polllinators serves as an outstanding framework that teachers can use to help their students understand how their food is produced, how agricultural systems can be designed to be sustainable, the importance of ecosystems services, how biodiversity contributes to these processes, and how the concerns of citizens can help shape agricultural policy. Furthermore, because the issues associated with pollinator declines and their contributions to agriculture are so broad, the associated research efforts are equally broad, integrating mulutiple fields and levels of biology. Thus, this topic can serve as a platform for teaching students about the wealth of scientific approaches and perspectives used in agricultural sciences.Current K-12 STEM education standards (NGSS) expect teachers to use the practices of scientists and engineers to teach core disciplinary ideas and cross-cutting concepts (Duschl, et al 2007; NRC, 2012; Lead States, 2013). A challenge to this reform is the lack of exposure to authentic research environment of most K-12 science teachers. The practices are often oversimplified as a "Scientific Method" and are operationalized in classrooms as a stepwise, linear process done by individual investigators (Windschitl et al. 2008). One method for providing teachers with first-hand insight into how research is performed is via summer teacher research experiences in which a teacher spends 5-6 weeks working in the lab of a researcher on a small component of the lab's overall research. Studies on immersion programs have shown the persistence of the concept of one true scientific method (Bell, et al 2003), rather an understanding of the dynamic, systems nature of authenticresearch, and few teachers showing changes in their teaching practice (Sadler, et al 2010).Furthermore, not many teachers are able to devote a large segment of their sumers to PD. Finally, such programs are costly, generally requiring $5,000 stipends per teacher per experience at a minimum and require a long term commitment by graduate students, post docs and/or faculty to mentor the teachers during the research experience. While abbreviated experiences require less time and cost, they still focus on a norrowly defined problem related to a small segment of the lab's overall research plan. The APPL-RED program takes a different approach, one that uses a workshop format to address content and issues associated with the overall research program of a research group and prepares teachers to engage their students in classrooom research projects that parallel the research group's research. Also, a consistent thread throughout the APPL-RED program is systems thinking appliedtonatural and man-made systems, and to the research process itself.The APPL-RED educational program brings together the strengths of Penn State's Center for Pollinator Research (CPR) and Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS). By incorporating a multitude of hands-on activities, active engagement in research projects, and site visits to apiaries, entomological museums and research farms, teachers will develop a systems-level understanding of the role of pollinators in sustainable agricultural systems, learn how researchers investigate these issues, participate in elements of the overall research process, and learn how to translate their learning to their students via classroom research projects associated with the research of PIs at the CPR. Middle schooland high school teachersserving rural and urban school districts will be prepared for student engagement in research through summer and academic year workshops at Penn State, followed by visits to selected schools by the PIs and their graduate students to support implementation of research projects and evaluate the outcomes of the programs. Teachers will also have the opportunity to serve as leaders by training other teachers in their school districts. Additionally, we will foster local interactions between teachers and extension specialists and volunteers from the Pennsylvania Master Gardener's Program, to help support educators and students in their efforts. Ultimately, we aim to develop on-line resources and courses to help distribute this program nationally.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
30%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goals of the APPL-RED programare to promote precollege teachers' and students' understanding of1)factors contributing to the declinein populations of pollinators, including both managed and wild bees; and of 2)the complexnature of STEM research, in particular, FANH-related research in the area of plant-pollinator landscape design.Objectives associated with these goals are:1. Enhance teachers' and students' understanding of the systems nature of plant-pollinator landscape design and research2. Prepare teachers to engage their students in classroom research projects that parallel the PI's research3. Increase teachers' and students' understanding of FANH-subject areas underlying plant-pollinator research4. Increase teachers' and students' awareness of policies and issues associated with plant-pollinator research5. Increase teachers' awareness of available resources available to support ongoing classroom research projects in the area of plant-pollinator interactions.
Project Methods
Teachers will participate in a one week summer workshop and academic year follow-up PDaimed at improving understanding of key concepts associated with pollinator contributions to sustainable and healthy agroecosystems, enhancing understanding of the systems nature of this field and the integrative research approaches use devceloping skills used in scientific research, and utilizing best practices for developing and implementing STEM research projects in the classroom. Elements comprising the programare discussed separately below, however workshop activities will model how these elements become blended in the research process.1) Key Concepts:Concepts central to the proposal research area will be reinforced with workshop participants through lectures, hands-on activities in the classroom and in the field, in research projects, and in site visits. These concepts include:1)How have pollinators evolved and diversified, and why many different pollinators are needed to support different plants/crops?2)Why is biodiversity important and how does it contribute to sustainable and healthy agricultural and natural landscapes? What are current threats? 3)How can we design agroecosystems and other landscapes to be sustainable and support diverse pollinator communities and their ecosystems services?4) What do organisms need to survive and what is adaptation to environment? What are current threats to bee species and how do we manage different bee species? 5) What is IPMand what sociological factors undermine its use? How do we use IPM to support pollinators? 6) How do we test whether two sample groups differ in their characteristics (statistics). What is mathematical modeling and how is it used to study plant-pollinator interactions? 7) How are policies related to agricultural and environmental practices generated? What factors determine the type of research conducted in the US? 2) Systems Thinking: Several ongoing activities will contribute to building a systems thinking perspective to issues associated with pollinator contributions to agricultural systems generally and plant-pollinator relationships more specifically. Throughout the summer workshop, the teachers will learn about a variety of ongoing research projects at the Center for Pollinator Research (CPR).Havingteachers examine a variety of research projects will allow them to better appreciate the complexity of the system. To further promote their understanding of the systems nature of the research process, teachers will use the MASTER Model (M-model)- first in terms of research going on in the host labs, their own research projects and finally for designing classroom research projects TheM-model forCPR landscape design research consists of the various component research objectives aimed at answering the overarching research goal, which is to design plant-pollinator landscapes that promote incresased crop yields. Objectives include: a)Spatial and temporal plant preferences of pollinators/ b) Nutritional resources for pollinators; c) Policy and practice; d) Land-use patterns;e) Insect and plant biodiversity.Each research objective functions independently and synergistically with all the other objectives to inform overall landscape management research efforts. In the workshop, we will expand this diagram to discuss interrelationships and interdependencies in more detail. Teachers will also learn about methods for introducing students to systems thinking and its application to developing and implementing classroom research projects. Teachers will also hear about individual reseaerch projects from graduate students, post-docs, and/or faculty involved in the project. Thjis activity provides an opportunity for teachers to further understand the systems nature of the overarching research project.3) Plant-Pollinator Landscape Research Methods:As the different components of the overarching research plan are addressed, teachers will learn methods researchers use to study these components. For example, one objective of the overarching plant-pollinator landscape research agenda involves understanding which plant species are preferred by and provide the necessary nutritionfor different pollinator species. While addressing these components, teachers will learn research techniques such as(a) identifying different pollinator species in the field (b) collecting data on visitation rates of pollinators to different flowers (c) determining if pollinators are visiting flowers to collect nectar or pollen (d) analyzing the nutritional quality of pollen using basic spectrophotometric methods (e) evaluating the impact of different sites/landscapes on pollinator fitness. Many of these approaches can be incorporated by teachers into their classroom research projects, as long as teachers have access to pollinator plants (in school gardents, patio boxes, or public gardens).Along with learning these and other research practices, teachers will also learn to work with existing data sets collected by the Master Gardeners to investigate numerous polant-pollinator related research questions and will have access to reference insect speciments found at the Frost Entomology Museum.4) Translation of Authentic Research into Classroom Research Projects: During the workshop, teachers will have engaged in sample research practices that they can then implement in their classroom research projects, including. mining data sets, evaluating pollinator communities in different landscapes, assessing plant pollinator interactions, looking to see how much pollinators contribute to the yield of different plants, etc. Under the guidance of APPL-RED faculty and graduate students, teachers will use the MASTER Model to design a classroom research project that incorporates science practices learned during the workshop, identify key underlying concepts that pertain to that research project, and situate the classroom research project within the PI's overarching research plan.5) Follow-up Support for Implementation of Classroom Research Projects: During the academic year, PD will continue to be provided through two focused one-day workshops that address topics such as progress on classroom classroom plant-;pollinator research projects, updates on research from members of the CPR, and addition research methods as needed. Teachers will also be paired with local Master Gardners to facilitate efforts in maintaining pollinator plants at the school or identifying local gardens for students to visit. A second level of support will be available to teachers interested in engaging their students in more extensive classroom research experiencce. Selectedteachers will receive both ffeedback on classroom research project design, a classroom visit by the PI, CoPI and or graduate student, and a small amount of funds to help purchase materials for the project. Students will create posters and presentations to be shared with researchers and teachers at the Capstone Workshop in year 3. Teachers will also engage in Action Research to investigate impacts of the research project on student learning.6) Evaluation: Formative and summative evaluation will use a mixed-method research design. Quantitative and qualitative data will be gathered through surveys, interviews, performance reports and work sample analysis. We will use a combination of the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) model (Stufflebeam et al;. 2000) and the Guskey (2000) model for evaluating teacher PD which examines teachers' reactions, learning, application of learning, student learning and organizational support. Formative evaluation will be ongoing and discussed with the APPL-RED team. A summative evaluation will be completed in year 3 to assess the achievement of the goals and objectives of APPL-RED, the impact of changes to the plans.