Collaborative Research: Faculty as Change Agents: Transforming Geoscience Education in Two-year Colleges

两年制大学(2YC)在满足国家地球科学和STEM劳动力需求以及提高公众科学素养方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在全国范围内，2YC招收了超过45%的美国本科生，服务于大量女性、少数族裔和第一代大学生。2YC的教学环境是最具挑战性的环境之一，因为社区学院主要是开放访问的机构，服务于极其多样化的学生群体；教学负担沉重；兼职教师的使用越来越多；参与教师专业发展活动的支持有限。后一个问题尤其重要，因为这类活动被广泛认为是许多创新教学方法的来源，这些方法被证明对改善学生的学习至关重要。这一教师专业发展项目将建立一个由2YC地球科学教师和管理人员组成的自给自足的地方社区的全国网络，他们使用基于证据的策略来提高所有学生的学业成功，并促进进入STEM劳动力的职业道路。一个相互联系和相互支持的研究和评估计划，完全整合到该项目中，将促进对两年制全职和兼职地球科学和STEM教师专业发展模式的有效性的了解和理解。该项目的目标是1)实施高影响力的循证教学和联合课程实践，以支持所有学生的学业成功，并促进进入地球科学的职业道路；2)建立一个可持续的全国2YC领导者网络，他们在从他们的课程到当地机构和实践社区的多个层面上催化变革；以及3)为全职和兼职的2YC地球科学教师调查促进创新循环的专业发展模式，在这个循环中，教师从其他人的研究中学习，在自己的实践中做出改变，并与教育界分享他们所学到的东西。该项目的专业发展计划将准备两批2YC地球科学教员团队，在他们的机构实施循证教学和联合课程实践。第一个队列包括来自美国10个地区17个机构的24名全职和兼职教师。国家研讨会、虚拟职业发展机会(例如，期刊俱乐部、网络研讨会、实施和讨论小组)和在线资源将支持教师在其校园内实施变革。将行政管理人员纳入该项目将为每个机构的系统性变革提供支持。教员团队将通过研讨会和后续活动相结合的方式，在其所在地区吸引更多的两年制和四年制机构，从而扩大项目的覆盖范围。虚拟专业发展机会将作为扩大项目影响范围的一种机制，在线资源将为整个地球科学界和更广泛的STEM社区提供持久的资源。项目组预计，600名全职和兼职2YC教师以及50(50)名四年制学院和大学教师将在项目过程中从事专业发展活动，该项目将影响大约25万名注册参加地球科学课程的2YC学生。

Two-year colleges (2YCs) play crucial roles in meeting the Nation's geoscience and STEM workforce needs and in increasing public scientific literacy. Nationally, 2YCs enroll over 45% of all U.S. undergraduates and serve a large number of women, minority, and first-generation college students. The 2YC teaching environment is one of the most challenging as community colleges are primarily open-access institutions that serve an extremely diverse student body; teaching loads are heavy; there is an increasing use of adjunct faculty; and support is limited for participation in faculty professional development activities. The latter issue is particularly crucial since such activities are widely recognized as the source for many innovative teaching methods shown to be critically important for improving student learning. This faculty professional development project will build a national network of self-sustaining local communities of 2YC geoscience faculty and administrators who use evidence-based strategies to improve all students' academic success and facilitate professional pathways into the STEM workforce. A program of interconnected and mutually supportive research and evaluation that is fully integrated in the project will advance knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of a professional development model for full-time and adjunct geoscience and STEM faculty in 2YCs. The project goals are to 1) implement high-impact evidence-based instructional and co-curricular practices that support the academic success of all students and promote professional pathways into geoscience; 2) build a sustainable national network of 2YC leaders who catalyze change at multiple levels from their courses to institutions in their local regions and within the community of practice; and 3) investigate models of professional development for full-time and adjunct 2YC geoscience faculty that promote the cycle of innovation, where faculty learn from the research of others, make changes in their own practice, and share what they have learned with the education community. The project's professional development program will prepare two cohorts of 2YC geoscience faculty teams to implement evidence-based instructional and co-curricular practices at their institutions. The first cohort includes twenty-four (24) full-time and adjunct faculty from seventeen (17) institutions in ten regions in the United States. National workshops, virtual professional development opportunities (e.g., journal clubs, webinars, implementation and discussion groups), and on-line resources will support faculty in implementing changes on their campus. Inclusion of administrators in the project will provide support for systemic change at each institution. The faculty teams will expand the reach of the project by engaging additional two-year and four-year institutions in their regions using a combination of workshops and follow-on activities. Virtual professional development opportunities will serve as a mechanism for increasing the reach of the project and on-line resources will provide persistent resources for the full geoscience and broader STEM communities. The project team anticipates that six-hundred (600) full-time and adjunct 2YC faculty and fifty (50) four-year college and university faculty will be engaged in professional development activities over the course of the project and that the project will impact an estimated 250,000 2YC students enrolled in geoscience courses.