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Results
of "Lessons from the Land"
"Lessons from the Land" is Creative Change's high
school curriculum and professional development program focused
on land use and sustainability in southeast Michigan. The results
of the first pilot of the curriculum in 2006 are below.
Learn
more "Lessons from the Land." | Back
to main Results page.
Background
In the spring of 2006,
"Lessons from the Land" was piloted with over 300 students
in six high schools in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The eight teachers
involved in the pilot attended a two-day workshop to prepare them
to use the curriculum, and Creative Change staff provided support
as teachers implemented the materials. The pilot aimed to increased
students' interedisciplinary understanding of land use and sustainability
issues, and to increase teachers' comfort with using selected
instructional techniques.
Goals
and results for students | Goals
and results for teachers
Goals and results for students
The pilot aimed to
increase students' interdisciplinary understanding of land use
and sustainability issues. To assess this, a pre-post test was
administered testing knowledge of local issues, and asking students
to apply knowledge from different disciplines to assess a case
study on a land use decision. Additional questions were asked
about student interest in reading and other academic subjects.
In addition, teachers were surveyed regarding their impressions
of the curriculum's impact. The initial results are as follows
(more details to come as data is compiled):
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A significantly higher number
of students were able to think of and describe a land use
problem in their community.
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Student interest in government,
economics, science, math, and history showed upward trends
from pre- to post test.
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Sixty-three percent (63%)
of students said they were more likely to read about community
issues in the future.
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Teachers were asked to indicate
how they believed the curriculum impacted student achievement
in several areas. Responses are as follows, on a scale of
1-5 (with five being high):
- The curriculum improved students’ understanding
of citizenship: 4.43
- The curriculum improved students’ understanding
of local land use planning: 4.71
- The curriculum increased the likelihood that students
will be active in civic life in the future: 4
- The curriculum increased students’ knowledge about
the demographics, government, and economy of their community:
4.43
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Goals and results for teachers
"Lessons from the Land" aimed
to increase teachers' comfort with using the following effective
instructional techniques:
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utilizing community-based
data and resources
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having students evaluate
different perspectives and information sources for
credibility
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teaching students
to analyze and interpret data and graphs.
The curriculum features activities based
on these techniques, and the professional development workshops
enabled teachers to experience these methods as both learners
and educators.
Pre-post surveys and individual interviews of teachers were
conducted. As a result of the program, teachers indicated
greater comfort with using these techniques, especially
the use of community-based data.
More evaulation results will be posted as
they are available.
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