Introduction on the role of ecology education and outreach programs at North American field stations

Background/Question/Methods Since A Nation at Risk was released 25 years ago, which painted a dire picture of US education in a post-Sputnik world, K-12 science classrooms have been struggling with pedagogical issues, shortage of highly qualified science teachers and poor performance of students in science compared to their counterparts internationally. Inquiry-based, hands-on, minds-on science is the growing trend as scientists are called to become involved in engaging the nation’s youth and shaping the science education curriculum. Similarly, at the undergraduate level, there is growing attention to student-active approaches to teaching and quality student research experiences in biology education. Recruiting and retaining a diverse student population in the ecological sciences remain a challenge today.  Which ecology education approaches and strategies will effectively contribute to science education and undergraduate biology education reform particularly among diverse student populations? What are the unique challenges that an increasingly urbanized society poses for ecology education and ecological literacy? How can ESA play a role through its SEEDS program and other initiatives in making successful ecology education efforts more visible in the K-20 community and among scientists?

Results/Conclusions The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card, show that average science scores in 2005 were higher at 4^th grade, remained the same at 8^th grade and declined at 12^th grade since 1996. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a triennial survey of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) indicate that US students “scored scored lower on science literacy than their peers in 16 of the other 29 OECD jurisdictions and 6 of the 27 non-OECD jurisdictions”. These results indicate that science education as usual is simply not working, particularly for upper grade levels.  This symposium presents six creative approaches that are field-based, associated with career pathways, integrated into larger research frameworks, mentor-guided and community-supported.