How does a curriculum intervention that anchors instruction to the study of urban coyote behavior affect student learning?

Abstract

One component of the science education reform process must be a sustained effort
toward making the study of science more interesting and meaningful to students,
especially in urban areas. Creating authentic learning opportunities where a scientist
instructs the curriculum intervention is one way to make science lessons more relevant.
This project involved assessing student cognitive gains on a locally relevant science
topic: eastern coyotes (Canis latrans). This study used a mixed methodological
(qualitative – quantitative) framework for students from two urban environmentallybased
high school science courses in the Boston area. Both classroom interventions
tended to show meaningful learning gains when assessed before and after the short (two
to three week) curriculum unit. Furthermore, students retained much of this knowledge
during a post-delayed survey ten weeks after the curriculum unit finished. Coyotes and
other common wild animals could potentially be used as flagship or charismatic species
to trigger increased interest and a knowledge base of the environment in which students
live.