STEP Center: InTeGrate: Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future

STEP中心项目是由卡尔顿学院、斯坦福大学、北卡罗来纳州立大学（NCSU）、宾夕法尼亚州立大学（PSU）、新奥尔良大学（UNO）、中央华盛顿大学（CWU）、内布拉斯加大学林肯分校（UNL）、德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（UTEP）、哥伦比亚大学拉蒙特·多尔蒂地球观测站（LDEO）、阿克伦大学、帕萨迪纳城市学院、地震学联合研究机构（IRIS）和国家科学与环境委员会（NCSE/CEDD）的环境主任和主任委员会。国家地球科学教师协会（NAGT）、美国地质研究所（AGI）、美国地球物理联合会（AGU）、美国地质学会（GSA）、综合海洋钻探计划（IODP）和海洋领导联盟（COL）等机构也在进行其他合作。据估计，在项目的整个生命周期内，1400名教师和59个地球科学部门，以及可能的50万本科生将受到该中心活动的影响。广泛的地球科学知识和强大的地球科学工作队伍对于解决重大的社会挑战越来越重要，包括资源问题（如矿物、能源、水、食物）和环境问题（如气候变化、危害、废物处理、环境退化）。InTeGrate STEP中心是一个广泛的跨学科社区，致力于开发材料和模型项目，以提高本科生的地球科学素养，包括大多数不学习地球科学的学生，并增加准备将地球科学方法引入跨学科团队的学生的数量和多样性，以应对重要的社会挑战。中心的活动主要集中在两个主要策略上，即试点更有效的本科核心课程，为STEM和非STEM学生服务，以及改善职前教师培训。在开发更有效的本科课程时，正在注意制作适合教学的教材，示范实施方案，以及教师使用这些教材的专业发展。与项目相关的跨机构课程开发团队正在创建和测试用于地球科学课程、跨学科课程和非stem专业课程（如商业、经济和教育）的材料，以解决这些重大挑战的其他方面。一系列实施方案正在展示部门、机构和多校区的课程和项目结构方法，以招收不同的学生，解决地球科学劳动力的准备问题，并将地球科学纳入通识教育和教师培训课程，以及各种STEM、环境和社会科学专业。综合评估计划是衡量新课程材料和项目对学生的影响：1)地球科学素养，包括他们对地球科学在解决社会面临的重大挑战中的作用的理解；2)解决跨学科问题的能力；3)对科学过程的理解。一个专业发展计划与“前沿”和“建设强大的地球科学部门”计划、地球科学专业协会和国家科学与环境委员会的活动相结合，正在支持广泛采用和调整课程材料和项目结构。项目评估是评估InTeGrate在课程、部门和机构层面的影响，重点是了解该项目如何影响教学和项目设计的变化，以及随后如何影响招生和学生在课程中的学习，这些课程包含了地球科学在解决社会重大挑战中的作用。教育和人力资源司本科教育司和地球科学司助理主任办公室共同资助这个STEP中心项目。

This STEP Center project is a collaboration between partners at Carleton College, Stanford University, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), the University of New Orleans (UNO), Central Washington University (CWU), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), the University of Akron, Pasadena City College, the Incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology (IRIS), and the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE/CEDD). Additional collaborations are being made through the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT), the American Geological Institute (AGI), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Geological Society of America (GSA), the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL), among others. It is estimated that 1400 faculty and 59 geoscience departments, and potentially half a million undergraduate students, will be affected by this Center's activity over the lifetime of the project. Widespread geoscience literacy and a robust geoscience workforce are increasingly important for addressing grand societal challenges including resource issues (e.g. minerals, energy, water, food) and environmental issues (e.g. climate change, hazards, waste disposal, environmental degradation). The InTeGrate STEP Center is engaging a broad, interdisciplinary community in the development of materials and model programs that increase the geoscience literacy of undergraduate students, including the large majority that do not study geoscience, and also increase the number and diversity of students prepared to bring geoscience approaches into interdisciplinary teams confronting important societal challenges. Center activities are focused through two main strategies of piloting more effective undergraduate core curricula that serve both STEM and non-STEM students and improving pre-service teacher training. In developing more effective undergraduate curricula, attention is being given to both production of pedagogically appropriate teaching materials, demonstration of implementation programs, and professional development in their use for faculty. Project-related, inter-institutional curriculum development teams are creating and testing materials for use in geoscience courses, interdisciplinary courses, and courses in non-STEM majors - such as business, economics, and education - that address other aspects of these grand challenges. A set of implementation programs is demonstrating departmental, institutional and multi-campus approaches to curriculum and program structures that enroll diverse students, address the preparation of the geoscience workforce, and integrate geoscience into general education and teacher preparation curricula, as well as into a variety of STEM, environmental, and social science majors. An integrated assessment program is measuring the impact of new course materials and programs on students' 1) geoscience literacy, including their understanding of the role of geoscience in addressing the grand challenges facing society, 2) ability to address interdisciplinary problems, and 3) understanding of the process of science. A professional development program integrated with activities of the On the Cutting Edge and Building Strong Geoscience Departments programs, geoscience professional societies, and the National Council for Science and the Environment is supporting widespread adoption and adaptation of course materials and program structures. Program evaluation is assessing the impact of InTeGrate at the course, departmental and institutional levels, with a focus on understanding how the program is influencing changes in instruction and program design, and subsequently impacting enrollments and student learning in courses that incorporate the role of geoscience in solving societal grand challenges. The Directorate for Education and Human Resources Division of Undergraduate Education and the Directorate for Geosciences Office of the Assistant Director are jointly funding this STEP Center project.