Collaborative Research: COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities - Connecting Communities around the World's Ocean

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This effort extends the activities of the Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence: Ocean Learning Communities (COSEE-OLC) located in Washington state. COSEE-OLC fosters the development of communities around ocean issues. It engages these communities, which include the general public and students of all levels, by organizing learning activities across a broad range of informal and formal settings. Throughout the proposed efforts we will work to increase participation of underrepresented persons in ocean research and education, especially through citizen science and associated science learning experiences. We have developed a strong relationship with the Puget Sound region's Marine Volunteer Community (MVC) with whom we engage in ocean awareness and research activities. The MVC has a high amplification factor owing to its broad reach to families and schools visiting beaches up and down the coast and Puget Sound. Second, we will continue to study how and why people learn about the ocean in formal and informal situations in ways that are personally consequential, and we will promote the interdisciplinary Learning Sciences research perspective more generally. We will leverage both of these activities to develop tools and approaches that support scientifically and educationally rigorous citizen science efforts on a variety of ocean research topics. We will engage diverse K-12 students, teachers and adult volunteers in citizen science research and associated learning experiences in partnership with ocean scientists. Learning scientists and informal education staff will design and study educational experiences and curricula to support meaningful learning about the ocean at the Seattle Aquarium, in classrooms, and out in the field. These efforts will include collaboration with programs and institutions already engaged in citizen science to help strengthen and extend the reach of such efforts. Resources and publications will be developed to promote these educational models more broadly.