June 2010 NAGT e-Newsletter

Sea stacks along the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia. Photo taken from a helicopter February, 2010 Details

Course design changes for a student-centered class in a low resource environment

by David Steer (University of Akron), Editor and Immediate Past President

This column briefly discusses course design issues when teaching large enrollment geoscience courses using a student-centered approach with the help of a teaching assistant. If the financial situation in your state is like mine, budget projections for upcoming funding cycles are dire. Many state-funded institutions have already imposed austerity measures and more are sure to come. This is occurring at a time when enrollments are increasing and many institutions have limited flexibility to raise tuition. As such, it is reasonable to expect larger classes and fewer resources. Therefore, it is prudent to analyze the potential impacts of these changes on teaching and learning in a student-centered class. For those who already operate in an environment where resources are severely limited, we encourage you to write in with your suggestions when designing and managing similar large enrollment classes. (Continue reading and comment...)

Educators Sought to Help Shape Digital Library Project on Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness!

You are invited to apply to serve as a consultant to an NSF-funded climate education project. Teachers and faculty who are selected to be in the consultant network will receive $225 for their participation. (Continue reading...)

NAGT/USGS Cooperative Summer Field Training Program

by Robert Ridky, USGS

Soon to enter its fifth decade, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cooperative Summer Field Training Program is the longest continuously running internship program in the earth sciences. Over the past forty-five years, more than 2000 students have participated in this program with an impressive number of these individuals becoming full-time employees of the USGS. (Continue reading...)

Memories of a Golden Summer with the USGS in Colorado

David Applegate, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 905, Reston VA 20192; applegate@usgs.gov

I spent the summer of 1989 working for the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, on an NAGT/USGS Summer Field Fellowship, for which I remain profoundly grateful to both NAGT and the USGS. Getting to Golden was made possible by a wonderful field camp experience the previous summer, when I was one of about a dozen rising juniors and seniors learning the ropes under the guidance of Bill Travers from Cornell. (Continue reading...)

Report from Building Strong Geoscience Departments

by Carol Ormand, SERC

Over the past year, the Building Strong Geoscience Departments program has run a series of visiting workshops and has expanded its web resources in our continuing effort to share successful strategies across the geoscience community. (Continue reading...)

Upcoming On the Cutting Edge Workshops

by Karin Kirk, SERC

There are some upcoming On the Cutting Edge workshops that you may want to explore. Follow the links to learn more details.

• Teaching Climate Change from the logic Record
  August 10-11, 2010 with optional field trip on August 12
  University of Wyoming – Laramie
  APPLICATION DEADLINE - June 30, 2010
• Teaching about Energy in Geoscience Courses
  October 30, 2010
  Denver, CO in conjunction with the GSA Annual Meeting

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