Dr. David Stronck
Professor, Teacher Education
CSU East Bay
Category: Science
Service learning can transform a bored and reluctant student in a science course into a passionate learner who wants to change the local environment through the intelligent use of relevant insights as a result of scientific analysis.”
Students in Dr. Stronck’s Instructional Methods of Teaching Single Subject Science had a hands-on opportunity to both participate in community service alongside their high school students, and also utilize service learning as a teaching method. These science-credential candidates instructed high school students about the ecology of native and non-native species and how the introduction of nonnative species can alter the ecosystem. They then led the high school students in community service at Stivers Lagoon by planting native trees.
Dr. Stronck explains the impact that service-learning pedagogy has had on his teaching and his students: “My course on methods of teaching science emphasizes motivating students through a recognition of the value of applying scientific information to the process of improving our lives and our community. Making science relevant to one’s own life and experiences now is a key to getting students involved in wanting to learn science. Service learning builds a bridge between scientific information and its use in the local community.”
