Module 8
Accessing and Evaluating Resources for Coastal and Marine Studies
Introduction
This module is designed to provide practical support and guidelines for making decisions about appropriate teaching resources. A range of important issues need to be considered when teachers select resources for coastal and marine studies. These include:- whether resources support the objectives, concepts and skills required
for coastal and marine studies;
- whether resources provide balanced opinions and a range of viewpoints;
and
- whether resources used for teaching controversial coastal and marine issues are, themselves, embedded with conflicting ideologies and the potential for controversy.
This module addresses these sorts of concerns. Those involved in coastal and marine education need to become familiar with the core concepts of Ecologically Sustainable Development and education for sustainable living. An evaluation matrix called 'ERCME' (Evaluation of Resources in Coastal and Marine Education) is provided in this module to help teachers identify aspects of these core concepts in the materials they might choose to use.
The use of the ERCME matrix can help overcome to the problems that may
arise with otherwise 'good' resources. Overall, this module attempts to
develop strategies for evaluating resources that will assist in the comprehensive
evaluation and selection of materials for classroom use.
Objectives
The objectives of this workshop are:- to develop strategies for evaluating teaching and learning materials;
- to assist in the location and selection of materials and resources
for classroom use in coastal and marine studies;
- to help teachers develop appropriate criteria for the evaluation of
resources; and
- to develop skills in adapting and using the ERCME matrix.
Workshop Outline
There are seven activities in this workshop:
- Introduction
An icebreaker activity is used to introduce the themes of the workshop and involve participants in a discussion of the resources they find most useful in coastal and marine studies. - Problems of Resource Selection
A group discussion identifies some problems associated with resource selection and develops a list of criteria for resource selection. - The ERCME Matrix
A mini-lecture and discussion introduces participants to the ERCME matrix. - Using the ERCME Matrix
Participants work in groups and apply the ERCME matrix to evaluate a range of coastal and marine resources. - The Purchasing Committee
A simulation game provides participants with the opportunity to work in groups to 'purchase' resources for coastal and marine studies. - Accessing Coastal and Marine Resources
on the WWW
This activity is provided for workshop groups with access to several computer terminals that have access to the Internet in order to evaluate the value of the WWW in accessing information and teaching materials for coastal and marine studies. - Conclusion
Participants return to the lists generated in Activity 1 and assess the usefulness of these resources using the criteria for evaluation explored during the workshop.
Materials Required
A. Provided
Overhead Transparencies |
|
| OHT 1 | An Unfinished Checklist of Resources |
| OHT 2 | Objectives of the Workshop |
| OHT 3 | Problems Associated with Resource Selection |
| OHT 4 | Six Problems of Resource Selection |
| OHT 5 | Some Types of Bias |
| OHT 6 | Possible Evaluation Criteria |
| OHT 7 | The ERCME Matrix |
| OHT 8 | Characteristics of our School
|
Resources |
|
| Resource 1 | Our Most Useful Resources |
| Resource 2 | Developing the ERCME Matrix |
| Resource 3 | The ERCME Matrix |
| Resource 4 | A Sample Resource for Evaluation |
| Resource 5 | Creating your Own Evaluation Matrix |
| Resource 6 | Resources Available for 'Purchase' |
| Resource 7 | Introduction to the Internet |
| Resource 8 | WWW Sites for Coastal and Marine Studies
|
Readings |
|
| Reading 1 | A Bit about Bias |
| Reading 2 | Evaluation Criteria |
B. To be obtained
| Activity 1 | Before the workshop, select your favourite resource
for teaching a coastal or marine topic and/or invite 2 - 3 participants
to do the same and to bring this to the workshop and briefly explain
to the group why this is their favourite resource.
Also, you might bring a selection of useful resources to set up and display before the workshop. A complete listing of relevant sites on the Internet could also be devised to display the WWW resources available for coastal and marine studies (Activity 6)
|
| Activity 4 | You might like to provide a range of resources (perhaps
from your display) for evaluation rather than the sample one in Resource 4.
|
| Activity 5 | You might be able to provide a different 'resource catalogue' (perhaps shorter or more directly focused on the teaching levels and subjects of participants) to the compilation in Resource 6. |
References
Maccoll, P. (1989) Selecting and Evaluating Resources for Geography Teaching in J. Fien, R. Gerber and P. Wilson, (eds) The Geography Teacher's Guide to the Classroom, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Melbourne.
North American Association for Environmental Education (1996) Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence, NAAEE, Troy, Ohio.
Tourtillott, L and Britt, P. (1994) Evaluating Environmental Education Materials, National Consortium for Environmental Education and Training, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Unger, Z. (1995) Analysing Educational Resources, in J. Fien (ed) Teaching for a Sustainable World, International Edition, UNESCO-UNEP IEEP and Griffith University, Brisbane.