HR: 08:15h
AN: ED11A-02    [PDF]
TI: New Directions for DLESE
AU: * Ridky, R W
EM: rridky@usgs.gov
AF: USGS National Education Coordinator, Office of the Director, Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192 United States
AU: Scotchmoor, J G
EM: jscotch@uclink.berkeley.edu
AF: University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, Berekeley, CA 94720 United States
AB: As in all long-range research and development initiatives, an evolving strategy of need and implementation has accompanied DLESE's given goals and accomplishments. From a project perspective, DLESE is at a stage of maturity where its focus can and should turn toward structured or designed selection of resources. The geosciences properly embrace earth system science as their research method of choice. Yet, instructionally, an effective earth system approach has been far more difficult to accomplish. Nowhere can DLESE's contribution be greater than in the earth system science arena. Because of an educational structure that trains principally within specialty areas and encourages continuing education largely through targeted professional affiliations, most instructors have little competence or confidence in teaching with an integrated approach. Quality instruction today, especially at the introductory level and within the highly integrated field of system science, requires a higher level of professional thought and collective contribution. It's not just a matter of having lots of good things to choose from, but rather a rational construct for why various activities modules or investigations are deserving of instructional implementation. What are indicators of quality of a submitted resource? What are the advance organizers that need to be established before using a submitted resource? What is known, or can be established by community users, about the effectiveness of a resource on various recognized styles of learning? It is in this critical curriculum development and utilization area that DLESE can make its next major contribution. An example of the value added contribution of DLESE is its USGS/San Francisco School System Pilot Program, an initiative that is aligning USGS resources to specific science standards.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting