HR: 14:40h
AN: ED13F-04    [Abstracts]
TI: The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation): Facilitating Partnerships that Work to Bring Earth Science Data into Educational Settings
AU: Freuder, R
EM: rita.freuder@unh.edu
AF: Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824 United States
AU: * Ledley, T S
EM: Tamara\_Ledley@terc.edu
AF: Center for Science Teaching and Learning, TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140 United States
AU: Dahlman, L
EM: LuAnn\_Dahlman@terc.edu
AF: Center for Science Teaching and Learning, TERC, 2067 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140 United States
AB: The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation, http://www.esipfed.org) formed seven years ago and now with 77 member organizations is working to "increase the quality and value of Earth science products and services .for the benefit of the ESIP Federation's stakeholder communities." Education (both formal and informal) is a huge audience that we serve. Partnerships formed by members within the ESIP Federation have created bridges that close the gap between Earth science data collection and research and the effective use of that Earth science data to explore concepts in Earth system science by the educational community. The Earth Exploration Toolbook is one of those successful collaborations. The Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet) grew out of a need of the educational community (articulated by the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) community) to have better access to Earth science data and data analysis tools and help in effectively using them with students. It is a collection of web-accessible chapters, each featuring step-by-step instructions on how to use an Earth science dataset and data analysis tool to investigate an issue or concept in Earth system science. Each chapter also provides the teacher information on the outcome of the activity, grade level, standards addressed, learning goals, time required, and ideas for exploring further. The individual ESIP Federation partners alone could not create the EET. However, the ESIP Federation facilitated the partnering of members, drawing from data providers, researchers and education tool developers, to create the EET. Interest in the EET has grown since it went live with five chapters in July 2003. There are currently seven chapters with another six soon to be released. Monthly online seminars in which over a hundred educators have participated have given very positive feedback. Post workshop surveys from our telecon-online workshops indicate that participants have an increased comfort level in using digital libraries, datasets, and scientific tools after working through an EET chapter. The EET is a vehicle that can grow and support new chapter development. An EET chapter template for creating new "chapters" has been devised. Other research-focused members of the ESIP Federation have expressed interest in working with the EET team to facilitate the use of their Earth science data by educators and students. This presentation will describe how the partnerships were forged, how they are maintained, and how the ESIP Federation is facilitating further growth.
UR: http://www.esipfed.org http://serc.carleton.edu/eet
DE: 6600 PUBLIC ISSUES
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 6699 General or miscellaneous
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting