Linking Geoscience Research and Education in Schools and Museums: A Model for Scaling Up Successful Collaborations

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Linking Geoscience Research and Education in Schools and Museums: A Model for Scaling up Successful CollaborationsStudent-scientist partnerships (SSPs) facilitate experiences of genuine inquiry while also contributing data to larger scientific questions. The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and TERC propose a collaboration to develop a model for successful, large-scale geoscience SSPs. SSPs have involved relatively small numbers of students in localized areas. Evaluations of student data, and learning outcomes, have posed a challenge to the few large-scale SSPs. To overcome these challenges, scientist-educators at the PRI have developed the Devonian Seas Project. Fourth through ninth grade classrooms have participated in classroom pilot-tests explicitly designed to meet specific challenges to the large-scale development of SSPs, including issues of data accuracy and educational pedagogy. The results of these paleontological SSPs have been encouraging: students are making important connections to their curricula and student data is sufficiently accurate to document paleontological patterns of interest. PRI proposes to partner with TERC to develop a model for scaling-up the Devonian Seas Project. To increase accessibility and dissemination, educational materials will be made available on the PRI Website, and catalogued with the Digital Library of Earth Science Education. By developing a model for scaling-up successful localized SSPs, PRI and TERC will lay the groundwork for other museums and universities interested in creating effective, large-scale projects linking research and education.