GP-IN: BUILDING A PATHWAY TO GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION USING DRONES

迪拉德大学（Dillard University）和新奥尔良的HBCU在采用基于地点的方法来了解和培训大学预科学生应对关键的区域地球科学环境挑战方面具有独特的优势。大一新生地球科学预科暑期课程将是这一令人兴奋的地球科学教育类别的基础和实践经验。这个想法是让学生们在夏天成为地理空间科学家。学生们将接触到经验丰富的榜样，作为一项核心活动，他们将探索无人机技术在社区地球科学中的应用。主要目标是曝光、激励、刺激和鼓励，从而增加来自结构上被排斥群体的学生获得学位、攻读地球科学学位并进入地球科学工作岗位的人数。鉴于最近的气候事件，新奥尔良是一个模型测试平台，让学生参与和兴趣日益增长，正在进行的地球科学相关的环境问题。以墨西哥湾沿岸为背景，该项目将以环境教学和研究的体验式方法为中心，注入GIS制图，几何/微积分，地球科学和无人机分析，以改善和推进本科STEM教育进入地球科学的途径。从新奥尔良大都会和周边地区的高中毕业的学生以及来自州外的学生将被选中参加为期8周的大一预科地球科学暑期课程。这些学生将学习四门课程，每门课程都包含多种实践活动。该计划的顶点或亮点将是无人机技术入门课程，该课程将用于将所有课程主题（GIS，几何/微积分，地球科学）整合在跨学科的基于活动的格式中。拟议的活动旨在：1)培养学生从事以地球科学为重点的STEM职业道路的兴趣和能力；2)介绍无人机技术及其与理解地球和地球科学的相关性；3)激励和增加结构上被排斥的地球科学/地球科学专业学生的参与；4)为来自不同背景的学生提供地球科学方面的科学知识和技能。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的“地球科学多样性领导机会计划”（GOLD-EN）、“历史上的黑人高校本科计划”（HBCU-UP）和“历史上的黑人高校卓越研究计划”共同资助。该计划为加强黑人高校的STEM本科教育和研究提供奖励。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Dillard University, and HBCU in New Orleans, is uniquely poised to engage in a place-based approach to understand and train pre-college students in key regional geoscience environmental challenges. The Pre-Freshman Earth Science Summer program will be a foundational and hands-on experience in this exciting category of geoscience education. The idea is that students will become geospatial scientists for the summer. Students will be exposed to experienced role models, and as a centerpiece activity, will explore applications of drone technology to the geosciences within their community. The primary goal is to expose, motivate, stimulate, and encourage thus increasing the number of students from structurally excluded groups receiving degrees, and pursuing a geosciences degree and entering the geoscience workforce. In light of recent climate events, New Orleans is a model testbed to engage and interest students in growing, ongoing geoscience related environmental issues. Utilizing the Gulf Coast as a backdrop, this project will center on experiential approaches to environmental teaching and research, infusing GIS mapping, geometry/calculus, earth science and drone analysis, to improve and advance undergraduate STEM education pathways into the geosciences. Students who have graduated from high school in metropolitan New Orleans and the surrounding areas as well as students from out of state will be selected to participate in an 8-week Pre-Freshman Earth Science Summer Program. These students will engage in four courses with multiple hands-on activities embedded within each. A capstone or highlight of the program will be the Introduction to Drone Technology Course which will serve to integrate all course topics (GIS, geometry/calculus, earth science) within an interdisciplinary activity-based format. The proposed activities are designed to: 1) build students' interest and capacity to engage in a geoscience-focused STEM career pathways; 2) introduce drone technology and their relevance to understanding earth and geosciences; 3) motivate and increase the participation of students from structurally excluded groups who major in earth science/geoscience; and 4) empower students from diverse backgrounds with scientific knowledge and skills in the geosciences.This project is co-funded by NSF's Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity Program (GOLD-EN), the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), which provides awards to strengthen STEM undergraduate education and research at HBCUs, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Excellence in Research Program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.