Improving academic outcomes in poor urban schools through nature-based learning |
| |
| Authors: | Michael J Camasso Radha Jagannathan |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Environment and Biological Science, New Brunswick, NJ, USA;2. Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning &3. Public Policy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | This paper presents results from the evaluation of the Nurture thru Nature (NtN) programme, a natural science and environmental education intervention designed to help elementary school children from disadvantaged backgrounds increase their knowledge of science and strengthen overall academic performance. Using an experimental design the pilot NtN programme in New Brunswick, NJ was assessed in one elementary school for a period of four years. The evaluation revealed that NtN students (n = 18) consistently outperformed a group of controls (n = 34) in mathematics and science with the differences in science reaching statistical significance. The paper discusses the active learning philosophy that motivates NtN teaching, the programme components that operationalise this philosophy, and a natural history paradigm from which this philosophy derives. |
| |
| Keywords: | Achievement gap at-risk students natural history programme evaluation science education urban education |
|
|
