HR: 1330h
AN: ED12B-0138    [PDF]
TI: Modifications to ESSEA Curriculum at San Jos\'{e} State University: Adapting to Teachers' Needs
AU: * Messina, P
EM: pmessina@geosun.sjsu.edu
AF: San Jos\'{e} State University, Department of Geology and Program in Science Education One Washington Square, San Jos\'{e}, CA 95192-0102 United States
AU: Metzger, E P
EM: metzger@geosun.sjsu.edu
AF: San Jos\'{e} State University, Department of Geology and Program in Science Education One Washington Square, San Jos\'{e}, CA 95192-0102 United States
AU: Sedlock, R L
EM: sedlock@geosun.sjsu.edu
AF: San Jos\'{e} State University, Department of Geology and Program in Science Education One Washington Square, San Jos\'{e}, CA 95192-0102 United States
AB: San Jos\'{e} State University's Geology Department and Program in Science Education piloted their ESSEA program in spring 2003. The initial offering, the High School Course, drew teachers from California and New York. Formative feedback and summative evaluations from participants suggested that the curriculum could be modified to serve its target audience more effectively. Dialog with other ESSEA P.I.s confirmed that many of these suggestions were aligned to the needs of teachers in other states. In summer 2003 SJSU's ESSEA team revised the High School Course in response to these discussions. The revised course contains three 4-week cycles (instead of four 3-week cycles), a slight decrease in group activities and increase in individual assignments, and required readings on "Netiquette." This revised curriculum was shared with four other ESSEA institutions before the start of classes in fall 2003. Future plans include the substitution of one of the existing 4-week cycles with another that focuses on the cosmosphere, and how the Earth spheres may affect and/or respond to more distant influences. Doing so would further benefit teachers by allowing the ESSEA course to satisfy subject matter competency in the geosciences, a requirement of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and counterpart authorities in other states.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting