New approaches to teaching water quality using examples found in the Great Lakes region

The purpose of this research project was to improve the water ecology unit taught in a high school ecology course, resulting in an improvement in the students' comprehension and enthusiasm for the content. Students were provided with a wide range of activities including labs, in-class activities, and research projects. These activities required both inquiry and problem-solving on the part of the students. For example, students were given problems regarding water pollution or water quality and asked to apply their knowledge to develop a solution. The sample population included juniors and seniors who may not be college bound and were enrolled in the Ecology course at Allegan High School. The students had completed two year-long coursed covering physical, life, earth and environmental sciences. A pretest which consisted of a variety of both objective and subjective questions including true and false, calculations, and short answer was given to the class prior to the start of the unit. A posttest consisted of the same pretest questions with additional questions added to allow for a formal test grade. When comparing the pretest and the posttest results, a substantial increase in objective and subjective scores was observed and the data were supported by statistical analysis using a paired Nest. The objective and subjective portions were supported with 99.5% confidence within 16 degrees of freedom. The T-statistic for the objective portion was 5.99, the subjective portion was 8.93, and when combined the overall T-statistic was 13.27.