Situating Earth Science and Mathematics in Superior: Outcomes and Applications of Place-Based Earth Science Teaching for In-Service Teachers in an Ethnically, Culturally, and Geolo

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This award is being used to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the hypothesis that place-based Earth science teaching will better engage and retain students who are indigenous to or historically linked to their homelands, such as American Indians and Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. A spectrum of cognitive and affective outcomes are being measured and analyzed using data taken in conjunction with a one-time experimental Southwest-based Earth systems science course (Situating Earth Science and Mathematics in Superior) for 30 in-service teachers from an ethnically, culturally, and geologically diverse rural region in central Arizona. The project aims to demonstrate quantitatively, through a majority-minority comparison, whether the place-based approach improves teacher content knowledge and scientific thinking, while enhancing sense of place. Participating teachers will be evaluated using established survey tools that will gauge pre- and post- geoscience content knowledge, level of place attachment and awareness, and beliefs about teaching and learning science. Results of these validated survey instruments will be used to help establish a new instrument that is tuned for place-based Earth science courses, but generalizable to any location. Teachers will participate in action research activities to further define connections to place and related pedagogical applications that will be videotaped, transcribed and incorporated into additional course products. This pilot study is expected to establish a model with the potential for broader use in diverse modes of situated teaching and learning.