The purpose of this research was to investigate ways in which complexity could be used as the paradigm through which schoolchildren might understand ecosystems in a new way. To that end, new conceptual and practical approaches for learning about ecosystems have been presented, and the effects of these approaches on teachers and other educational stakeholders have been explored. A variety of learning environments were visited and over two hundred educational stakeholders were consulted. This resulted in a number of suggestions on and a discussion of the introduction of complexity, as a lens by which to teach about ecosystems and as a teachable subject, within that context, to pre-university schoolchildren. / The development of the learning and teaching approaches for this age group (primary and secondary school) involved exploring the state of ecosystem studies as they are presently conducted, and seeking the content within the current curricula that had congruity with the content of interest: ecosystem phenomena related to complexity. The insights gained from that investigation led to the creation of two types of approach, an approach to learning about ecosystems through the lens of complexity, and an approach to teaching about ecosystems through the lens of complexity. The Complexity Conceptual Approach deals with the various ways of understanding, or conceptualizing, ecosystem complexity and the Complexity Practical Approach deals with the content, technology, and methodology used for instruction on ecosystem complexity. The two approaches can be used together as part of a "complexity framework" that is flexible enough to be used in a diverse variety of learning situations. / Substantial consideration was given to the foreseeable prospects for these approaches: how implementation might occur, the issues involved, and the anticipated outcomes. Accordingly, topics of discussion include the introduction of the conceptual and practical approaches in terms of their effects on various educational stakeholders (such as teachers, students, parents, and administrators) and on different levels of the educational system. This type of investigation (in which potential impacts are considered) is, itself, reflective of the kind of systems-thinking that the complexity approaches were established to engender in schoolchildren.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.85174 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Karsten, Jennifer |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Bioresource Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002223824, proquestno: AAINR12868, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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