HR: 0800h
AN: ED21B-0061    [Abstracts]
TI: Unique Partnerships: The Earth System Science Education Alliance
AU: * Schwerin, T G
EM: theresa_schwerin@strategies.org
AF: IGES, 1600 Wilson Blvd. Ste. 901, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AB: The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) professional development program is a unique partnership involving over 19 colleges, universities, and other science organizations across the country, offering a trio of online, ESS graduate-level courses for K-12 teachers. Among the cadre of ESSEA organizations are three (3) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) and one primarily Hispanic serving university; many ESSEA universities serve rural and disadvantaged communities. The inquiry-based courses are providing teachers with the content knowledge and tools they need to incorporate Earth system science into their curricula. Over 1000 teachers have completed at least one of the semester-long, graduate level courses. Additionally, teachers implementing ESS in their classrooms have commented that the cross-disciplinary nature of the courses positively impacts student learning across the board, not just in science. The primary goal of ESSEA team members is to reach K-12 students by instructing in-service teachers who will teach them. However, many ESSEA universities open their courses to undergraduate pre-service teachers as well as non-science majors, improving not only our students' scientific literacy, but also that of our citizenry.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting