Geology of Utah's National Parks and Monuments: Education Materials for Earth Science Courses

本提案所要求的经费将用于发展、评价和传播一个地球科学多媒体介绍性实验室的三个组成部分，该实验室的目标是供职前和在职教师使用。这三个组成部分是：1)基于CD-ROM的虚拟课程，包括基于犹他州五个国家公园和纪念碑的特殊地质暴露的练习，以及可以在任何地方进行的动手练习，旨在为用户提供分析地质过程及其产品的经验；2)一套课程教材，包括广泛的教案、关键的岩石样本、相关的地质和地形图、技术文献和通俗文献的参考资料以及课程评价材料；3)一段视频，提供有关远程现场的深入信息以及学生和研究人员在现场解决问题时使用的技术。多媒体实验室将被设计用来帮助中学地球科学教师使用地球系统的方法来呈现信息。该实验室将包括一系列开放式问题，这些问题集中在地球科学界目前正在研究的问题上。问题的选择将鼓励学生发展解决问题的能力和整合各种来源信息的能力。技术技能和理论概念将在实验室提出，只有必要的解决问题。参与项目的学生和教师将使用定量和定性评估工具，包括诊断学习日志、测试前/测试后态度调查和设计用于测量高阶认知的仪器，以确定材料在教授基本地质概念方面的成功。在项目的第一年，将开发这三个组成部分。第二年，教材将在学年期间由当地招收的本科生（包括职前教师）和在职教师进行测试和评估。多媒体实验室的组成部分将根据参与者和我们自己的评估进行修改。在第二年的夏季，课程材料将在来自代表性不足的少数群体（妇女、非洲裔美国人和印第安人）的中学生中进行测试，这些学生作为现有暑期青年计划的一部分访问该大学，旨在增加少数民族的入学率。该项目允许各种各样的学生参与材料的评估，并将允许pi调查不同的教学方法和辅助工具对不同种族和经济背景的学生的影响，以及性别。多媒体实验室的组成部分将再次根据这些课程的参与者和讲师的建议进行修改。在第三年，参与第二年的在职教师将在他们自己的课堂上测试多媒体实验室的有效性。届时将对多媒体实验室的组成和制作进行最后的修改，并在第三年年底向公众开放。

Funds requested in this proposal will be used to develop, evaluate, and disseminate three components of an introductory earth science multimedia laboratory that is targeted for use by pre-service and in-service teachers. The three components are: 1) a CD-ROM based virtual course including exercises based on the exceptional geologic exposures in five of Utah's National Parks and Monuments as well as hands-on exercises that can be performed anywhere and are intended to give users experience analyzing geologic processes and their products; 2) a course kit containing extensive lesson plans, key rock samples, relevant geologic and topographic maps, references from the technical and popular literature, and course evaluation materials; and 3) a video providing in depth information about the remote field sites and techniques used by students and researchers in the field to solve problems.The multimedia laboratory will be designed to help secondary school earth science teacher's present information using an Earth System approach. The laboratory will include a series of open-ended questions that focus on problems that are currently being researched by the Geoscience community. The questions will be chosen to encourage development of problem solving skills and the ability to integrate information from a variety of sources. Technical skills and theoretical concepts will be presented in the laboratory only as necessary to solve the problems. Quantitative and qualitative assessment vehicles, including diagnostic learning logs, pre-test/post-test attitude surveys and an instrument designed to measure higher-order cognition will be used by students and teachers who participate in the project to determine the materials success at teaching basic geologic concepts.During the first year of the project the three components will be developed. In the second year, the materials will be tested and assessed during the academic year by undergraduate students (including pre-service teachers) and in-service teachers recruited from the local area. The components of the multimedia laboratory will be modified in response to participants' and our own evaluations. During the summer of the second year the course materials will be tested on secondary school students from underrepresented minority groups (women, African American and Native American) that visit the University as part of an existing Summer Youth Program designed to increase minority enrollment. This program allows access to a wide variety of students to participate in assessment of the materials, and will allow the PIs to investigate the impact of different teaching methods and aids on students from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, as well as both genders. The components of the multimedia laboratory will again be modified as suggested by the participants in and instructors of these courses. During the third year, in-service teachers who participated during the second year will test the multimedia laboratory's effectiveness in their own classrooms. Final modifications to the components and production of the multimedia laboratory will be made at this time, and the laboratory will be made publicly available at the end of the third year.