© 2013 Kristen A. Schulte Strengthening the Curriculum Design and Enhancing the Educational Practices of the Resources Education Curriculum in Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps By Kristen A. Schulte University of Wyoming A.A. St. Charles Community College, 2009 B.S., Southeast Missouri State University, 2011 Plan B Project Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science in Natural Science/Mathematics in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at the University of Wyoming, 2013 Laramie, Wyoming Masters Committee: Dr. Ana Houseal, Chair Dr. Elizabeth A. Flaherty Bob Fuhrmann, Youth Program Manager at Yellowstone National Park Abstract Our country’s first National Park is home to the Yellowstone’s Youth Conservation Corps (YELL-YCC); the YELL-YCC is a residential youth employment program founded on service learning concepts implemented through stewardship projects. Since 1989, this program has served as a pathway for career opportunities in the National Park Service (NPS). Education is an integrated into all work and recreational activities and five hours each week is dedicated to formal lessons known as the Resource Education Curriculum (REC). Prior to 2010, YELL-YCC ran a single eight-week session each summer. In 2010 a transition from a eight week session two four and a half-week session, model was implemented. The REC was scaled back and adapted, but the original lessons did not clearly define participant understandings, knowledge, and skills, nor did they include diverse instructional strategies. This research aims to strengthen and enhance the REC by developing 17, one-hour educational lessons by answering the following research questions: What are the understandings, knowledge, essential questions, and skills that define the conceptual foundations that are central to the YELL-YCC REC? And how do place-based experiential, and collaborative instructional strategies support the teaching of the YELL-YCC REC? This research provided the YELL-YCC with a strengthened curriculum design and enhanced REC, which achieves overarching goals of educational programming. By focusing specifically on educational development, this study in intended to inform Youth Corps research in the area of participant educational outcomes. ii The research is inspired by and dedicated to my crew members and co-crew leaders, environmental education professionals, and for my family, friends and professors who supported me in all my pursuits even when I had writting mistakes, I ah-dore you all iii Acknowledgments I want to express gratitude to the many individuals and organizations that provided support, inspiration, and encouragement in the conceptualization and completion of this research. First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Ana Houseal, for her valuable guidance and advice. She inspired me greatly with her incredible dedication and patience. Her willingness to offer a unique perspective contributed tremendously. Deepest gratitude is due to the members of my committee, Dr. Elizabeth A. Flaherty and Bob Fuhrmann, without whose knowledge and assistance this research would not have been successful. I would also like to convey thanks to The Science and Mathematics Teaching Center and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in providing the financial means to attend the University of Wyoming. I’m grateful for the participation of the educators who generously gave their time to share their knowledge and insights in the interview process. I also need to thank the Student Conservation Association, an amazing organization who provided many transforming moments in my career. I was fortunate to attend the Teton Science Schools Graduate Program, which taught me much about myself as an educator and provided the means to formulate this research. I wish to acknowledge the influence of the Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corp who contributed to the creation of this research. I felt motivated and encouraged every time I spoke with Mike Coonan, Jon Nicholson, Eugenie Bostrom, and my fellow graduate students as they shared their knowledge, ideas, and tips all of which culminated in the completion of this research. Finally, an honorable mention goes to my family for their many shades of inspiration, encouragement, and good humor that aided me in the quality of this research. iv Table of Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ iviii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 9 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 11 Purpose .............................................................................................................................. 14 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 15 Significance of the Project ................................................................................................ 15 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 18 Selection of the Literature ................................................................................................. 10 Methodology of the Review ............................................................................................. 19 Youth Corps Background ................................................................................................. 20 History of the Conservation Corps Model ........................................................................ 20 The Beginning of the Youth Conservation Corps ............................................................ 21 Young Adult Conservation Corps ..................................................................................... 22 Growing from a Federal Movement to a State Movement ............................................... 22 The Future of Youth Corps ............................................................................................... 24 Yellowstone’s Youth Conservation Corps ....................................................................... 27 Curriculum Planning ......................................................................................................... 28 Backwards Design ............................................................................................................ 29 Concluding Stage One: Identifying Desired Results ........................................................ 35 Instructional Strategies ..................................................................................................... 35 Place-Based Education ..................................................................................................... 36 Experiential Education ...................................................................................................... 41 Collaborative Instructional Strategy ................................................................................. 44 Summary of Findings ........................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 3 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 48 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 48 Phase One: Interviews ...................................................................................................... 49 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 49 Participant Recruitment .................................................................................................... 50 Interview Processes ........................................................................................................... 51 Qualitative Interview Analysis ......................................................................................... 52 Phase Two: Curriculum Development .............................................................................. 52 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 52 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 57 Chapter 4 Results ........................................................................................................................ 59 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 59 Bodies of Knowledge ........................................................................................................ 62 Weekly Themes ................................................................................................................ 67 v Overview of the REC Progression... ................................................................................