Aligning Learning Outcomes and Workforce Competencies for Terminal Geography and Geology Master?s Degree Programs

美国地质学会(AGI)和美国地理学家协会(AAG)正在对50个不同的终端地理学和地质学硕士学位课程进行调查，以努力确定研究生课程中教授和培养的能力类型(包括实习和相关专业培训经验)。这些结果正在与AGI、AAG和其他组织最近进行的劳动力研究结果进行比较，这些研究表明，地球科学雇主在公共和私营部门寻找入门级职位时所寻求的技能资格。通过这项研究，该项目正在开发资源和工具包，以帮助学术项目更好地将课程和建议实践与劳动力需求相结合。为该项目开发的调查直接建立在AGI和AAG之前的工作基础上，以创建概念上有效的专业能力衡量标准和对地球科学行业趋势的研究。在实践中，通过为地理和地质终端硕士项目提供额外的方法来评估与劳动力需求相关的学习结果，这些结果可以用于辅助地理和地质终端硕士项目。对于所有研究生项目来说，这都是一个重要的问题，尤其是对于期末硕士项目，这些项目对课程设置、学生的职业道路以及教师的建议和指导做法知之甚少。作为大多数地质学和地理学入门级专业的研究生学位，AGI、AAG及其姊妹组织需要把重点放在硕士教育上，作为更广泛参与的一部分，以满足未来科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)地球科学职业的劳动力需求。该项目预计将通过提供可用于指导学生选择学术课程和其他教育经验的信息来改善STEM劳动力在广泛地球科学领域的准备，这些课程和其他教育经验将使他们具备入门职位所需的能力。通过建立和加强学术计划和雇主组织之间的对话和关系，该项目还可以传播在地球科学方面的学术和专业培训对在各种公共和私营部门职业中工作的价值。尽管这是一个专注于地理和地质学项目的试点项目，但通过与地球科学领域的其他专业学会和学术项目建立伙伴关系，未来仍有可能扩展到其他子领域。

The American Geological Institute (AGI) and the Association of American Geographers (AAG) are conducting a survey of 50 different terminal Geography and Geology master's degree programs in an effort to determine the types of competencies taught and developed in graduate curricula (including internships and related professional training experiences). The results are being compared to the outcomes of recent workforce studies conducted by AGI, AAG, and other organizations that indicate the skills qualifications that geoscience employers seek for entry-level positions across the public and private sectors. Through this research, the project is developing resources and toolkits that can help academic programs better align curricula and advising practices with workforce demands.The surveys developed for this project build directly on prior work by AGI and AAG to create conceptually valid measures of professional competencies and studies of industry trends in the geosciences. In practical terms, the results can be used to assist Geography and Geology terminal master's programs by providing them with additional approaches to assess learning outcomes in relation to workforce demands. This is an important issue for all graduate programs, but especially for terminal master's programs for which little is known empirically about curricula, students' career paths, and advising and mentoring practices by faculty. As the graduate degree for most entry-level professional careers in geology and geography, a focus on master's education is needed as part of a broader engagement by AGI, AAG and their sister organizations to address future workforce needs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) geoscience careers.This project is expected to improve the preparation of the STEM workforce in broad geoscience fields by providing information that can be used to guide students in their selection of academic courses and other educational experiences that will equip them with the competencies they need for entry-level positions. By establishing and enhancing dialogues and relationships between academic programs and employer organizations, the project may also communicate the value of academic and professional training in the geosciences for work in various public and private sector careers. Although this is conceived as a pilot project focusing on geography and geology programs, there is potential for future expansion to other sub-fields through partnership with other professional societies and academic programs in the geosciences.