ED44A-01 INVITED
A Strategic Partnership for Teaching Earth and Ocean Sciences in the 21st Century Classroom
Recent advances in web-based, inquiry-driven education have lead to development of online platforms for delivery of instruction that engages students in active scientific inquiry, incorporates computer simulations of real-world phenomena, and involves collecting and analyzing data. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence – CA and San Diego Unified School District are working to support widespread integration of Earth and ocean sciences into online instructional environments and to promote teacher adoption of these online instructional strategies. Key to this effort is collaboration between institutions and individuals with the expertise and experience in the science, technology, and technology-based teaching required to create a robust online Earth and ocean sciences learning environment. As part of this new collaboration science educators at Scripps have assembled a team of scientists, teachers, educational technology specialists, web developers and programmers to 1) create a collection of online Earth and ocean sciences instructional modules that will serve as the core of a centralized resource for teachers wishing to teach in a technology-rich online environment; 2) pilot incorporation of these modules into online learning environments; 3) design and deliver professional development that supports adoption of technology-rich, online instructional strategies in middle and high school classrooms; and 4) strengthen and enrich this model research institution (SIO)/school district (SDUSD) partnership by facilitating student and teacher interactions with scientists (e.g. summer research experiences for teachers, video teleconferences between ocean scientists and classrooms, open house events). The long-term goal of the project is to create a model for effective development and use of Earth and ocean science research-based online resources. Dissemination of the resources and approaches will be accomplished by 1) incorporation of the modules into lessons in the growing online lesson plan collections at SDUSD, the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA; GEO Teach) and the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) program; and 2) offering an SIO-based online teacher professional development program as part of the Earth Systems Science Educational Alliance's (ESSEA) GEO Teach program.
ED44A-02
Three sciences- Two Years- One Solution- Using the Earth System Science Education Alliance On-line Course to build K-12 Teacher Earth System Science Content and Pedagogical Knowledge
Starting in 2007 Ohio high school students will need to pass a new Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) taken in the second semester of their sophomore year as a graduation requirement. This high-stakes test was mandated by the Ohio legislature and developed by the Ohio Department of Education to reflect the more rigorous Ohio K-12 Academic Content Standards, including science. The science section of the OGT includes the content areas of Physical science, Life science and Earth/Space science. The Earth/Space science standards use the Earth system as a content organizer and many questions on the Ohio Graduation Test have an Earth system science focus. Ohio law mandates that Physical Science be taught as the 9th grade science course in all Ohio public high schools and that Life science be taught as the 10th grade science offering. This legislation created a profound disconnect between Earth/Space science content and the timing of the Ohio Graduation Test. Although approximately one-third of the OGT science section questions test Earth/Space science content, it is impossible to teach a high school level Earth/Space science course prior to students taking the Ohio Graduation Test. School systems in Ohio have responded to this crisis by either adding the 9th and 10th grade Earth/Space science benchmarks to the Physical Science and Life Science course curricula, or by teaching the 9th and 10th grade Earth/Space science benchmarks at the 7th or 8th grade in an Earth/Space science course that because it contains so much material, must be "a mile wide and an inch deep". In either case, a significant number of the teachers charged with building the Earth/Space science content knowledge for the Ohio Graduation Test do not have a strong Earth/Space science component in their own educational background, although they may have a strong background in the physical or life sciences. Wright State University has a long record of providing Earth/Space science professional development for K-12 teachers. Offering the Earth System Science Education Alliance Earth systems on-line course as professional development is ideal for this purpose because the course can be tailored for classroom teacher professional development. Course content can be chosen by faculty from an array of real-world situations and events that focus on the state and national science education benchmarks most useful for the K-12 teachers preparing their students for the Ohio Graduation Test. Course pedagogy can also be chosen to allow maximum flexibility in professional development. Teachers of grades 5-8 and grades 9-12 teachers can both engage the same content, but with different pedagogies. This strategy has been shown to lead to a greater likelihood of K-12 teachers incorporating the content and pedagogical strategies into their own classrooms.
ED44A-03
Supporting Inquiry-based Earth System Science Instruction with Middle and High School Earth Science Teachers
The Transforming Earth System Science Education (TESSE) project, a partnership between faculty at the University of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania State University, Elizabeth City State University and Dillard University, is designed to enrich the professional development of in-service and pre-service Earth science teachers. One goal of this effort is to help teachers use an inquiry-based approach to teaching Earth system science in their classrooms. As a part of the TESSE project, 42 pre-service and in-service teachers participated in an intensive two-week summer institute at UNH taught by Earth scientists and science educators from TESSE partnership institutions. The institute included instruction about a range of Earth science system topics as well as an introduction to teaching Earth science using an inquiry-based approach. In addition to providing teachers with information about inquiry-based science teaching in the form of sample lesson plans and opportunities to revise traditional lessons and laboratory exercises to make them more inquiry-based, TESSE instructors modeled an inquiry- based approach in their own teaching as much as possible. By the end of the Institute participants had developed lesson plans, units, or year-long course overviews in which they were expected to explain the ways in which they would include an inquiry-based approach in their Earth science teaching over the course of the school year. As a part of the project, graduate fellows (graduate students in the earth sciences) will work with classroom teachers during the academic year to support their implementation of these plans as well as to assist them in developing a more comprehensive inquiry-based approach in the classroom.
ED44A-04 INVITED
Virginia Earth Science Collaborative: Developing Highly Qualified Teachers
A collaborative of nine institutes of higher education and non-profits and seventy-one school divisions developed and implemented courses that will enable teachers to acquire an Add-On Earth Science endorsement and to improve their skills in teaching Earth Science. For the Earth Science Endorsement, the five courses and associated credits are Physical Geology (4), Geology of Virginia (4), Oceanography (4), Astronomy (3) and Meteorology (3). The courses include rigorous academic content, research-based instructional strategies, laboratory experiences, and intense field experiences. In addition, courses were offered on integrating new technologies into the earth sciences, developing virtual field trips, and teaching special education students. To date, 39 courses have been offered statewide, with over 560 teachers participating. Teachers showed increased conceptual understanding of earth science topics as measured by pre-post tests. Other outcomes include a project website, a collaborative of over 60 IHE and K-12 educators, pilot instruments, and a statewide committee focused on policy in the earth sciences. http://www.virginiaearthscience.info
ED44A-05
The DataTools Professional Development Program: Supporting the Integration of Data and Analysis in Middle School Earth Science Programs
TERC's professional development program Tools for Data Analysis in the Middle School Classroom (a.k.a. DataTools) addresses the need for well-prepared Earth science teachers by helping change the practice of those who are "approaching Earth sciences from a traditional perspective", and 2) those who are "challenged by the need to link research with classroom experiences". The DataTools program addresses this need via a yearlong professional development program that helps middle school teachers develop competence in locating and downloading Web-based Earth science data, and visualizing and analyzing that data using a suite of analysis tools. Leveraging the resources and techniques of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, the DataTools team promotes the practice of having students attempt to answer scientific questions by examining and analyzing relevant data using tools and fostering dialog as they evaluate and try to make sense of their results. In this session, we will describe the DataTools professional development program and the Earth Exploration Toolbook, and will summarize what we have learned during the first two years of this three-year program. We will also share some of the work that teachers have used with their students during the first two years of the program. http://serc.carleton.edu/eet
ED44A-06
Geoscience Teacher Education and Professional Development
This project provided teacher education and professional development through a partnership between geoscientists and educators. The purposes of this project were to: 1. inculcate geoscience knowledge in K-12 teachers. 2. to provide K-12 teachers with a better understanding of how the scientific community assesses evidence of climate change. 3. foster the use of inquiry-based hands-on activities in K-12 classes. 4. introduce K-12 teachers to research occurring at Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) and its NSF Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) partners. Pre-service and in-service teachers from Ohio were invited to enroll in GEOL SCI 580, through The Ohio State University, which was co-taught by a geologist and a science educator. The course focused on research conducted at the BPRC and by CReSIS partners that detects, describes, and displays evidence of climate change, particularly in polar and alpine regions of the world. The course offered a basic introduction to remote sensing and satellite imagery, other methods used to study the extent and condition of Earth's cryosphere, and an introduction to modeling. The course was designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the processes involved in remote sensing, gathering and analyzing data about polar and alpine regions, and how models are used to better understand complex systems. The course showcased cutting-edge research and offered participants the opportunity to interact with research scientists, see their laboratories, and meet some of their graduate students to better understand the research process. Course participants were given copies of lectures on DVD and the associated presentation slides and images prior to the class session where they met the scientists. Continued interaction with the group provided valuable feedback to the researchers and staff of BPRC. http://cresis.ku.edu
ED44A-07
Integrating Science Content and Pedagogy in the Earth, Life, and Physical Sciences: A K-8 Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Continuum at the University of Delaware
University of Delaware faculty in the geological sciences, biological sciences, and the physics and astronomy departments have partnered with faculty and researchers from the school of education to form a continuum for K- 8 pre-service teacher preparation in science. The goal of the continuum is to develop integrated understandings of content and pedagogy so that these future teachers can effectively use inquiry-based approaches in teaching science in their classrooms. Throughout the continuum where earth science content appears an earth system science approach, with emphasis on inquiry-based activities, is employed. The continuum for K-8 pre-service teachers includes a gateway content course in the earth, life, or physical sciences taken during the freshman year followed by integrated science content and methods courses taken during the sophomore year. These integrated courses, called the Science Semester, were designed and implemented with funding from the National Science Foundation. During the Science Semester, traditional content and pedagogy subject matter boundaries are crossed to stress shared themes that teachers must understand to teach standards-based science. Students work collaboratively on multidisciplinary problem-based learning (PBL) activities that place science concepts in authentic contexts and build learning skills. They also critically explore the theory and practice of elementary science teaching, drawing on their shared experiences of inquiry learning during the Science Semester. The PBL activities that are the hallmark of the Science Semester provide the backdrop through which fundamental earth system interactions can be studied. For example in a PBL investigation that focuses on kids, cancer, and the environment, the hydrologic cycle with emphasis on surface runoff and ground water contamination is studied. Those students seeking secondary certification in science will enroll, as a bridge toward their student teaching experience, in an additional content course within a science discipline that is concurrently taught with a science methods course. Emphasizing inquiry-based activities, these bridge courses also focus on developing integrated understandings of the sciences. The continuum extends beyond the student teaching experience by tracking cohorts of science teachers during their in-service years. With funding from the National Science Foundation's Teacher Professional Continuum program, we are conducting research on this inquiry-based professional development approach for K-8 teachers across this continuum.
ED44A-08
Satellite Applications for K-12 Geoscience Education
This presentation will highlight interactive on-line curriculum developed at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. CIMSS has been on the forefront of educational software design for over two decades, routinely integrating on-line activities into courses on satellite remote sensing. In 2006, CIMSS began collaborating with education experts and researchers from the University of Washington to create an NSF-funded distance learning course for science teachers called Satellite Applications for Geoscience Education. This course includes numerous web-based learning activities, including a distance education tool called VISITview which allows instructors to connect with multiple students simultaneously to conduct a lesson. Developed at CIMSS to facilitate training of National Weather Service forecasters economically and remotely, VISITview is especially effective for groups of people discussing and analyzing maps or images interactively from many locations. Along with an on-line chat function, VISITview participants can use a speaker phone or a networked voice-enabled application to create a learning environment similar to a traditional classroom. VISITview will be used in two capacities: first, instructors will convey topics of current relevance in geoscience disciplines via VISITview. Second, the content experts will participate in "virtual visits" to the classrooms of the educators who take the course for full credit. This will enable scientists to interact with both teachers and students to answer questions and discuss exciting or inspiring examples that link satellite data to their areas of research. As long as a school has Internet access, an LCD projector and a speakerphone, VISITview sessions can be shared with an entire classroom. The geoscientists who developed material for the course and conducting VISITview lectures include a geologist from the University of Wisconsin-Richland, an oceanographer from the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, and satellite meteorology experts from CIMSS at UW-Madison. This AGU presentation will report on the progress of the debut semester of the geoscience course and corresponding VISITview sessions. http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/education/