The Multidisciplinary-Infusion Theory In Environmental Education And Its Application In Biology Teaching

Along with the increasing severity of the environmental problems, environmental education is already a research hotspot in the education domain and has been developed to be a worldwide study field. Curriculum organization is one of the essential issues in curriculums. Presently, all over the world, environmental education has been introduced into the curriculum system as an important part of the elementary education in most countries. The multidisciplinary-infusion model is a curriculum organization model used mostly. But all the experiences indicated that the problems occurred in multidisciplinary-infusion environmental education (MIEE) are related to the problems in the collaboration among different disciplines. Nowadays, the environmental education has developed into the sustainable development stage. The "collaboration problem" becomes one of the biggest challenges of environmental education. However, world widely, there are few published materials relevant to the inter-disciplinary environmental education study, especially in china. So the proceeding of the multidisciplinary-infusion theory and its application in biology education will contribute to promoting the effect of environmental education and the developing environmental education curriculum.I took the MIEE in Chinese senior middle school as an example, to analyze how environmental education introduced into the multi-disciplinary curriculums. This study is totally focused on the research of multidisciplinary-infusion theory and its application. The specific content of the research is listed as follows:a) By referring to information from the important environmental education conferences or documents, and published research results, I concluded that the environmental education collaboration problem in the curriculum organization is popular all over the world. (Historical Research Method)b) By analyzing of the present curriculum organization and the "general multidisciplinary-infusion model" initiated by the author, it will provide curriculum analytical information for this research. (Basic Curriculum Research)c) From a series of senior middle school textbooks used most widely in China presently, I found out the relationship between environmental education and the disciplines. Then, I initiated a MIEE system model. (Textbook Research Method, Model Building Method)d) Based on my multidisciplinary-infusion theory, I conducted a quasi-experimental research in biology teaching on the condition of the minimum support and the least collaboration. By this way, I tested the "lowest effect" of applying the multidisciplinary-infusion theory to environmental education in biological teaching. Moreover, I analyzed the scores of the biology terminal exam to see the influence from the theory to the performance in biology. (Quasi-Experimental Research Method) I conclude:a) "Collaboration issue" is a worldwide problem of the curriculum organization in environment education.Based on the reorganization of the history of curriculum organization models in environmental education, I divided the history into three stages: the birth, the beginning, and the exploring-maturating, and also divided the environmental education history in China into three stages: the initial-building, the exploring, and the rapidly-growing. Environmental education has been introduced into most countries' elementary education. Each country's curriculum organization model in environmental education has its own feature, but there are few successful examples occurred. The "collaboration problem" is urgently to be resolved.b) To bring forward the view of the "general multidisciplinary-infusion model" (GMIM).Environmental education's curriculum organization model includes five kinds: the single subject model, the multi-disciplinary-infusion model, the mixed model, the full-regrouped model, and the activity-education model. After the analysis of the curriculum organization in environmental education, I initiate the GMIM. This new model is similar to the mixed model, including two parts: multi-disciplinary-infusion model and single subject model. But the GMIM requires the two parts to combine closely during teaching. The biggest feature of GMIM is that there are perfectly harmony in the interior and the outer disciplinary curriculums. The GMIM can accommodate to the development requirements of environmental education.c) The relationship between environmental education and each disciplinary curriculum is dialectic.According to main functions to environmental education in each discipline in senior middle school, we divided those disciplines into three groups: the basic knowledge, the communicating and performing, and the topic research. We also divided the traditional disciplinary curriculums into the manifest environmental education curriculums and the hidden environmental education curriculums.Comparing and analyzing the textbooks of each discipline on the environmental education's permeation angle, main content, sequence, distribution, permeating form, as well as the cross-permeation, I find that, in the multi-disciplinary-infusion model, the relationship between environmental education and each disciplinary curriculum is dialectic. Some problems in Chinese environmental education need to be resolved such as meaningless repeated, contradictive, or incomprehensive contents, the lack of environmental study activity, and the insufficiency permeation, etc.d) The initiation of the "top model" in multi-disciplinary-infusion environmental education."Top model" is raised aiming at the multi-disciplinary "collaboration problem" in the multi-disciplinary-infusion model. Based on system theory, this model judges the "MIEE system" as a whole "top", which is consisted of two essential components: the main body and the pivot. The main body is composed of the environmental education in each disciplinary curriculum, and the pivot can be the environmental education in any disciplinary curriculum. Because of its good agility and adaptability, top model adapts well to the most conditions of MIEE.e) Applying the multidisciplinary-infusion theory to environmental education in the biology teaching can significantly promote the students' environmental understanding.In this quasi-experimental research, I use three means in applying the multidisciplinary-infusion theory to environmental education in the biology teaching. They are "the introducing of multi-disciplinary methods", "the applying of the multidisciplinary environmental teaching methods", and "the adding, deducting and revising of the teaching content". I used "Environmental Education Questionnaire in Shanghai's Senior Middle School" as an evaluation instrument. And the results proved that applying the theory of multidisciplinary-infusion to environmental education in the biology teaching can significantly promote the students' environmental quality and there is no influence on the scores of the biology terminal exam. Moreover, students have a significant enhancement on understanding MIEE and a better understanding of the importance of biology.