Einstein in the Basque Country

The Global Lab Curriculum

Environmental technology & the new model of science education

The Global Lab Project, developed by TERC of Cambridge, MA, and supported by the National Science Foundation, has developed and tested key strategies to reform science education through the implementation of experiential, student-based collaborative inquiry. The project utilizes telecommunications, affordable scientific tools, and innovative curriculum to create a global community of student researchers engaged in real-world, hands-on investigations into local and global environments.

In designing the Global Lab model, we targeted the following educational objectives: Motivating students: The Global Lab instructional strategy is based on the assumption that students are motivated to learn when their studies are relevant to their lives. Global Lab thus engages them in the study of local and global environmental issues that are important, unresolved and accessible.

Fostering Interdisciplinary approaches: Environmental studies embrace the principle disciplines of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, and mathematics. The first four are essential to environmental research; and mathematics is, of course, key to the practice of all the sciences.
Developing student research skills: Since students lack practical research experiences, Global Lab prepares them with introductory skills and teaches them how to think scientifically.
Introducing collaborative investigations: Shared experiments introduce students to important content, techniques & scientific methods, fostering the growth of cognitive, problem-solving and communication skills.
Creating a student-research community: A community of student researchers with shared interests, techniques and capabilities is a key outcome of the Global Lab approach. It enables real research and mirrors the working of profession-al research associations.

At the heart of the Global Lab paradigm lies an emphasis on relevancy. The project assumes that students are motivated when what they study addresses their lives, worldly experiences, and developmental needs. The project begins when students choose their "study site," a plot of land in their communities that they want to study environmentally. By involving students in the decision of what to study, we ensure that their studies are of intrinsic interest to them. By engaging students in examining the environmental health of their communities, we ensure that they also are fueled by social concerns.

An important instructional goal of program is to bring students to an understanding of the scientific attitude itself - the need for clarity of thought and objectivity of judgment - and its application to their daily lives. The Curriculum guides students through the entire range of scientific work, calling upon them to exercise the same intellectual processes that come into play among professionals. Students acquire the intellectual perspectives to formulate their own judgments based on rational analysis and a basic but active knowledge of how science works and the results it can achieve. Over the course of the project, they gain the experience of analyzing complex problems, of separating facts from speculation, and completing a challenging task that contributed to real knowledge. Students learn to conceive and organize scientific tests, make valid measurements, standardize and collate their data for sharing with colleagues. The goal: a healthy skepticism characteristic of good science.

The Curriculum recognizes that students' direct involvement in experimental science should be balanced by exposure to the rich perspectives of science history. Thus, the program provides teachers and students alike with background information on the historical, cultural and social aspects of their various experimental activities. Students are systematically drawn to a need to use libraries and databases, thus developing their skills at tapping intellectual resources. The project also teaches those skills students need in their transition into adulthood. The Curriculum is designed to encour-age all students to build upon their personal abilities, regardless of their intellectual standing among classmates. These include skills at interpersonal communication, decision-making, problem-solving, cooperation, planning and the intangibles of personal responsibility and leadership. In addition, the project is structured to impart successful students with a deep sense of self-esteem, and accomplishment. The faith of Global Lab is that even if the experience does not draw students into professional science, it can help them become informed, objective, reasoning and active citizens.

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