Urban Education

Urban Education

Urban Education

Introduction

This paper examines the possible ways of improving student achievement in the urban classroom in the area of education by offering two field experiences into the natural environment as catalysts to generate student curiosity and thereby encourage learning through using some basic inquiry skills. In addition, this paper analyzes the research available on the inquiry method and the traditional lecture method. Although both methods had strong support, the research on the traditional and inquiry methods revealed few researchers in the field of education were outspoken and supportive of both methods.

Discussion

This paper takes the position that the scientific inquiry-based approach to learning science has advantages over the traditional, conventional, teacher-centered approach in the classroom. This project explores one possible way of improving student academic achievement by offering to students the option of attending local field trips and then measuring learning differences achieved outside of the traditional classroom. The hypothesis is that students who attend field trips taken into the natural environment will not only become more interested in learning but will improve their level of academic achievement when back in the traditional classroom setting. This report involved measuring the interest and engagement levels of the students and the amount and type of knowledge the students gained and retained, some of which required higher reasoning skills. This fact indicates an impoverished student population that rarely travels outside of the city limits into a natural setting. The students arrive at school with many problems at times. These problems could include lack of food and adequate housing, no responsible adult in the house for hours or days at a time to set schedules and routines, lack of money for basic living supplies, gang activity on the street, violence in the home or neighborhood, lack of sleep, etc. For many of these students academic achievement and the desire to learn may not be a top priority. (Rothstein, 2004)

The Inquiry Method versus the Traditional Method of Science Education

For over one hundred years Americans have disagreed about the direction of educational policies affecting teaching methods and curriculum content in public schools. Prior to 1900, most science educators lectured to their students using direct instruction in what would be considered a traditional format and delivered a specific body of knowledge that the educator selected.

The inquiry method is best described as part of a learning and teaching style and method continuum that starts at one end as a conventional, traditional, teacher centered classroom practice and finishes at the other end in a classroom that is directed and orchestrated by students who regularly develop their own questions and then pursue the answers to those questions using proven scientific methods. Proven scientific methods include processes such as predicting, observing, analyzing, comparing and inferring. Proven scientific methods would also include the gathering, assembling, and synthesizing of data or information and reporting any results. These methods are learned in traditional and inquiry-based classrooms, as well as informally outside of the ...