Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement in the Earth Sciences

提供了一系列区域讲习班，以帮助教师提高地球科学入门课程、与地球科学相关的跨学科课程和/或科学教师培训课程的教学技能。其目标是鼓励教师在科学课程中充满智慧，在有效的教学方法和教育技术方面积累经验，并探索以改革为基础的学生学习策略的有益结果。参与的教职员工将获得将地球科学与其他学科相结合的方法和材料。将展示的教学方法包括解决问题的练习；教师扮演促进者角色的基于问题的模式；将实地工作、体验式学习和获取数据的技术纳入更传统的课堂/实验室活动的综合学习环境；通过建立学生小组和通过电信接入建立更大的区域或国家社区，发展科学学习者社区；以及利用地方和区域问题来展示相关性并培养学生在其社区中的管理意识。学员在为本国机构的协作团队制定战略计划时，将继续开展讲习班活动。后续报告，包括对计划成果的评估，如实施战略、学生学习成绩和讲习班以外的传播，将为其他有兴趣改进其地球科学入门教育计划、与地球科学有关的课程和(地球)科学教师培训课程的其他人提供有用的信息。这些信息将被汇编成一个数据库，社区可通过AGI的地球科学教育信息交换中心获取，包括硬拷贝和电子格式。

A series of regional workshops is offered to help faculty develop improved teaching skills in introductory earth science, earth science-related interdisciplinary courses, and/or courses in science teacher preparation. The goal is to encourage faculty to be intellectually vigorous in science courses, to gain experience in effective teaching methods and educational technologies, and to explore the beneficial outcomes of reform-based strategies for student learning. Participating faculty will be provided with methods and materials that will integrate the geosciences with other academic disciplines. Instructional methods that will be demonstrated include problem-solving exercises; an issue-based model in which the teacher plays the role of facilitator; integrated learning environments that incorporate field work, experiential learning, and technological access to data into more traditional classroom/laboratory activities; development of communities of science learners by establishing student teams and by building a greater regional or national community through telecommunication access; and use of local and regional issues to demonstrate relevance and to foster in students a sense of stewardship in their communities. Participants will continue workshop activities as they develop strategic plans for collaborative teams at their home institutions. Follow-up reports, including evaluative assessment of plan outcomes, such as implementation strategies, student learning achievement, and dissemination beyond the workshop, will provide information useful to others interested in improving their educational programs in introductory earth science, earth science-related courses, and courses in (earth) science teacher preparation. This information will be compiled into a database that will be accessible to the community through AGI's Clearinghouse for Earth Science Education, including hard-copy and electronic format.