Environmental Science Education in the 21st Century

Abstract

Technology is helping biology instructors redefine their pedagogical “toolboxes” for the 21st century classroom. Indeed, online multimedia learning tools are evolving to fill the niche to assist student transition from simple inquiry-based learning (textbooks, less student responsibility, rote memorization of facts) to professional science practice (higher-end inquiry, more student responsibility, higher order thinking). Moreover, these tools are creating interactive classrooms, empowering motivated instructors to be facilitators of learning who allow students opportunities to construct their own knowledge while exciting the next generation of thinkers, doers, and global-minded citizens. This chapter reviews one example of an online multimedia learning tool—the CHANCE research module—that is being used in high school and undergraduate classrooms in the United States, China, and other international locations to transform environmental science education by exposing students to international environmental issues and problems through the analysis and evaluation of real-research data from factual ecosystems, highlighting evidentiary support for the benefits and successes of these research-based modules, and showcasing what is being learned, through assessment research, about the use of these modules in Chinese undergraduate classrooms.