Release date: May 2, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Oxford College Offers Ecology Institute for Teachers

Georgia teachers will take on the great outdoors this summer as they tromp through fields, brave muddy wetlands and streams and get acquainted with assorted critters – all for the sake of better environmental education for their students.

For the 12th consecutive year, Oxford College of Emory University is sponsoring the Oxford Institute for Environmental Education June 16-27, a program that trains Georgia educators in teaching ecology through hands-on investigations and field techniques.

The intensive yet fun institute is designed to help teachers — regardless of background or grade level — develop their own teaching plans using their schoolyards for scientific investigation. For 10 days, participating teachers learn the basic principles of ecology in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, how to apply this knowledge to lesson plans, and how to develop their school yards for environmental education.

The institute 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. Since the institute held its first session in 1991, more than 220 teachers have participated in the program. The program is run by Oxford biology professors Steve Baker, Eloise Carter and Theodosia Wade. Sallie Burn, a teacher in Decatur City Schools, also is an instructor in the program.

"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," says Baker, director of the institute, who attributes the program’s success to its emphasis on investigation.

"What teachers have found when they return to their own school yards and use what they have learned, is that students are more interested in their work," Baker says. "Teaching through inquiry-based methods is one of the best ways to teach kids about the sciences. They’re not just learning things out of a book. The students get excited about science and about doing science, and that makes it all worthwhile."

The institute is free for educators accepted to the program, plus each receives a $100 stipend and six staff development hours required for their certification. Once teachers complete the program, they also receive $100 to use for classroom supplies, a new addition to the program provided by a grant from Chevron Texaco Corp. The program is funded annually through the Improving Teacher Quality Grants Program, the Georgia Power Foundation, the Georgia Wildlife Foundation and Oxford College.

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

"The teachers who take it are wonderful and eager to learn. There's a lot of networking and friendships are formed. It becomes like a summer camp for teachers," Baker says.

Oxford College is located in Oxford, Ga., 38 miles east of Atlanta. For more information on the program, call 770-784-8397 or e-mail Steve Baker at baker@learnlink.emory.edu. For more information and to apply online, go to www.emory.edu/OXFORD/Academics/oiee/.

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