UNH GEO-Teach: Transforming Earth System Science Education

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The UNH GEO-Teach project addresses the need for highly qualified teachers in the geosciences by developing a comprehensive plan to transform geoscience education at the middle and high school levels. The program, built as a collaboration between the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Dillard University (DU), Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), and Pennsylvania State University (PSU), will bolster existing preparation programs for pre-service teachers to include mentoring and networking with in-service teachers and bona-fide research experiences in Earth system science. In addition, in-service teachers will participate in an enrichment program that includes a research and curriculum component that supports development of inquiry-based classroom activities integrating all aspects of Earth system science. A major component of this project is the establishment of GEO-Teach fellowships for graduate students in the geosciences, modeled after the existing UNH GK-12 initiative (NSF Project: DGE-0338277). With GEO-Teach support, Earth Science graduate and undergraduate students will participate in summer enrichment institutes and continue to build a relationship with teachers during subsequent academic years. Each Graduate-fellow will be paired with schools and take on the role of "scientist-in-residence" within these partner schools. The Graduate-fellows will work with teachers to implement the newly designed modules and to provide support for project-based activities in the classroom. A two-part summer enrichment program will be offered annually. The Topics in Earth System Science for Teachers (ESST-1) course is designed as a refresher course for in-service teachers originally trained in Earth Sciences and an overview course for in- and pre-service teachers originally trained in other disciplines. The Research Topics in Earth Sciences Teaching (ESST-2) course will provide more advanced exploration of current geoscience concepts. The summer enrichment program will be based at UNH in year 1 and pre-service teachers will be sponsored from all partner institutions to attend. The program will expand to include 4 summer GEO-Teach institutes at UNH, DU, ECSU, and PSU in years 2 and 3 of the project. Expansion of the UNH model to satellite programs at the partner institutions will allow investigation of the adaptability and exportability of the UNH model to other types of institutions, including those with diverse student populations. Over the course of the three years, 240 in-service and pre-service teachers will participate in project activities. Thorough evaluation of project activities will be used to demonstrate the potential for the UNH model to be scaled up to the national scale.