University of Manitoba Centre for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning: applications and utility of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Theory

[Extract] This monograph documents the outcomes of some of the research activity conducted between 2005 and 2010 by the University of Manitoba Centre for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning (CRYSTAL). The primary underlying theoretical framework of the University of Manitoba CRYSTAL is Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model of human development—a model that Bronfenbrenner himself lamented, prior to his death in 2005, had had minimal application to and impact upon educational development. Although the Centre's research activity, collectively, involved 17 research projects, this monograph focuses upon eight projects that provide diverse education contexts for evaluating the utility of Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of human development. The first part of the monograph introduces Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model. The second examines the focus, organization, and activity of the University of Manitoba's CRYSTAL. The third section reports on findings from eight research studies conducted by the authors on the utility of Bronfenbrenner's model. Finally, a summary presents a synthesis of the findings from the eight studies, with a focus on evaluating the utility of Bronfenbrenner's model for educational development efforts. Based upon this utility, recommendations are made.