University Communications
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: June 10, 1999
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Assistant Director, 404-727-0644, or dhammac@emory.edu

OXFORD COLLEGE PROGRAM BOOSTS K-12 TEACHERS' ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SKILLS

Nearly 20 Georgia K-12 teachers are going to sacrifice their sneakers and brave heat, humidity and mosquitoes to tramp through lakes and streams in the name of environmental science June 14-25 for the eighth annual Oxford Institute for Environmental Education. Oxford College of Emory University trains Georgia educators in hands-on laboratory and field techniques in ecology to boost the skills of teachers who often have had limited training in their own college backgrounds.

"Many schools in Georgia have outdoor classrooms, but so few are being fully used by teachers and students," says Steve Baker, associate professor of biology at Oxford and director of the institute. "We get teachers with every level of experience in science and ecology, and every one of them leaves with renewed confidence and enthusiasm for teaching environmental education."

Some 150 Georgia educators have gained or enhanced their skills in using inquiry-based teaching of natural science during the seven years the institute has been in existence. "The emphasis has always been on investigative learning," says Baker. "That has become hot in education circles lately, but we've been focusing on providing those teaching skills since the beginning."

The Oxford Institute for Environmental Education is housed at the Oxhouse Science Center of Oxford College, a 47-acre ecology laboratory, which includes a small lake and 40 acres of forest, grassland and easy access to both pristine and polluted streams in the area. The educators ask questions and design plans for scientific investigations in their own school environments; teachers gain the tools to design lessons that are particularly pertinent to their students.

"Instead of just telling kids why the world's rainforests are endangered, the teachers can help their students discover on their own how streams in their own community might be endangered," says Eloise Carter, professor of biology at Oxford and instructor in the institute. "While learning about the rainforest is certainly worthwhile, knowing about their own school environment and community is so much more relevant to kids."

In addition to the two-week summer institute, the participants reconvene for a half-day session in November to relate their experiences with implementing their plans and discuss future, long-range plans for additional investigations. The institute staff also makes a concerted effort to visit each teacher's class during the school year to evaluate first-hand the success of the institute.

The Oxford Institute for Environmental Education receives funding from the Eisenhower Program for Higher Education, the Georgia Power Foundation and Oxford College, and receives in-kind support from the Georgia Wildlife Federation.

The participants of the 1999 Oxford Institute for Environmental Education are:

Lynn Brown, South Effingham Middle School, Guyton, Ga.

Sue Ernst , High Meadows School, Roswell, Ga.

Michael Hill, Southside High School, Atlanta, Ga.

Bruce Johnson , Briarlake Middle School, Decatur, Ga.

Susie Johnson, Rockdale County High School, Conyers, Ga.

Gary Kring, Upson-Lee Middle School, Thomaston, Ga.

Mary Kring, Upson-Lee North Elementary School, Thomaston, Ga.

Richard Kukor , Eagles Landing High School, McDonough, Ga.

Michelle Leavitt, Mansfield Elementary School, Mansfield, Ga.

Amanda Lockhart, Redan High School, Stone Mountain, Ga.

Gussie Phillips, Southside High School, Atlanta, Ga.

Vickie Seastrom, National Wildlife Federation, Atlanta, Ga.

Debbie Stankus, K.E. Taylor Elementary School, Lawrenceville, Ga.

Pauline Washington, Southside High School, Atlanta, Ga.

Amanda Wilson, South Effingham Middle School, Guyton, Ga.

Cynthia Wolf, McNair High School, Atlanta, Ga.

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