Outdoor Environmental Education. An Innovative and Exemplary Approach to Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Striving for an innovative and exemplary approach to preservice and inservice teacher education, Chadron State College, Nebraska, has developed an Outdoor Environmental Education Program. As portrayed in this program description, it consists of: (1) an undergraduate course in outdoor education; (2) a sixth grade outdoor education experience involving students in 11 local school systems; (3) a graduate summer workshop including an extended field trip to Wyoming; (4) field experiences for earth science students studying physiographic provinces and excavating archeological areas; (5) development of state-wide curriculum guidelines; (6) utilization of the state college field laboratory, Camp Norwesca, for outdoor, recreational and science activities; and (7) sponsorship of teacher inservice workshops. Additional material outlines objectives of the program, personnel involved, budget required, evaluation procedures for each component, program impact--how it contributes to the improvement of teacher education, and future plans. Course outlines, class schedules, descriptive brochures, and evaluation reports are appended in the supporting materials section. This work was presented to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education for its 1972 Distinguished Achievement Awards Program. (BL)