January 2010 NAGT e-Newsletter
Recent NAGT News
- Upcoming Workshop - The Volcano Exploration Project: Pu'u 'O'o
- Volunteers needed - International environmental data rescue organization
- Online Testing Site for the Geoscience Concept Inventory
Hot Links
- Page 2: Web Resources
- Earth Learning Idea (ELI) Blog
- NAGT Scholarships for Field Study
Application Deadline 2/16/10 - Study Abroad in Peru with the Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds
- 6th Quadrennial Conference of the International Geoscience Educators Organization
Johannesburg, South Africa
30 August - 3 September 2010
Abstract Deadline Extended: 5/28/2010
New Book List
To recommend a book to highlight in a future issue or to provide a review of a book, please email John McDaris.Field Geology Education: Historical Perspectives and Modern Approaches
Edited by Steven J. Whitmeyer, David W. Mogk, and Eric J. PyleField instruction has traditionally been at the core of the geoscience curriculum. The field experience has been integral to the professional development of future geoscientists, and is particularly important as it applies to student understanding of spatial, temporal, and complex relations in the Earth system. This volume seeks to broaden participation in field instruction by showcasing diverse approaches to teaching in the field.
Available from the GSA Bookstore.
Community Advertisements
This ad is currently running on the NAGT website. Click the link to learn more.Contribute a Banner Photo for the next e-Newsletter
If you have a photo that will inspire and delight your fellow geoscience educators we want to help you share it. Continue reading...Contribute to the News
If you have a news item that you would like published via the NAGT website, NAGTNews, or the e-News (next issue-March 2010), submit it via the news upload form.Letter from the Editor
by David Steer (University of Akron), Immediate Past President
This column focuses on a lesser known function of NAGT officers – acting as your representative to various other societies and the larger education community. (Continue reading...)Building Support for Your Department
by P. Geoffry Feiss (College of William and Mary)
To paraphrase Mr. Dickens, these are the "best of times and the worst of times" for earth science.
The best of times? I cannot recall a time in fifty years of awareness of geoscience education when the subject matter and skills central to our disciplines have been more in the public eye, more critical to the resolution of significant societal problems. (Continue reading...)
Important Upcoming Deadlines
There are several upcoming workshops and opportunities with impending application dates that may be of interest to you and your students. These include workshops on Service Learning and Complex Systems in the offing from On the Cutting Edge, a workshop in Hawai'i on using online data to teach about volcanic processes from folks at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and the NAGT/AWG scholarship program for students to take part in field study. Don't miss out on these great opportunities! (Continue reading...)NAGT Distinguished Speaker... in New Zealand?
by Eric B. Grosfils (Pomona College)
From the fall of 2006 through the spring of 2009 it was my distinct privilege to serve as a Distinguished Lecturer for NAGT. As is true for all Distinguished Lecturers in the program I suspect, during this period I had the opportunity to exchange ideas with dedicated, teaching-focused geoscience colleagues across the country, in settings that ranged from major research universities to small liberal arts colleges. I enjoyed these interactions immensely, though I found them very humbling as well, and can only hope that those who invited me benefited from our discourse as much as I did! (Continue reading...)
NAGT and Public Policy: Educating Lawmakers on the Importance of Geoscience Education
by Eric Riggs (CRESME, Purdue University)
Join the NAGT Public Policy email list
NAGT is increasingly visible and outspoken among geoscience professional societies in advancing the importance of teaching gesocience nationwide. Over the last few years, NAGT has added our collective voice to the defense of the geosciences in state educational standards in New Jersey and Texas, and has spoken collectively in support of the inclusion of the Earth Sciences in any proposal for national science curriculum standards. The Association is also unique among geoscience societies in our adoption of official position statements advocating the teaching of evolution and all aspects of climate change science. (Continue reading...)
2009 OEST Winners
2009 saw a big increase in the number of nominations we received for the Outstanding Earth Science Teacher award including a couple from sections that haven't had any nominations in recent years. So it's with great pleasure that we further publicize the winners of the sectional and state awards that were announced at the Fall Meeting at GSA in October. (Read about the winners...)
NAGT Members Win Prestigious Awards
If you needed more evidence that NAGT members are making big differences in the education of students all over the country, here it is. We leaned this fall that three of our members have been honored with awards for their work in this arena. (Continue reading...)