NAGT News - Vol 21 - No 6

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Initial Publication Date: June 10, 2021

Vote to elect NAGT leaders through July 1, 2021

Voting for NAGT leadership is now open and ends on July 1, 2021. Submit your ballot today to elect national and division leaders.

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NAGT and USGS announce the 2021 Cooperative Field Training Interns!

Sixteen students from geology field schools across the United States have been selected as the top of their class and offered internships with the USGS this summer. We invite you to view the 2021 interns as well as past interns.

The Cooperative Field Training Program was first initiated in 1965 when then-USGS director William "Bill" Pecora acknowledge the need for the USGS to be more engaged in geological education. This partnership between the USGS and NAGT has continued since with more than 2300 students participating and many of them going on to become full-time USGS employees. Learn more about the NAGT/USGS Cooperative Field Training Program.

JGE free access paper for June 2021

Are you interested using Clicker questions more effective at increasing science interest and self-efficacy? For the month of June, everyone has free access to a JGE article that discusses how to make active-learning strategies more effective: Nicole M. James, Bailey Zo Kreager & Nicole D. LaDue (2021) Predict-observe-explain activities preserve introductory geology students' self-efficacy, Journal of Geoscience Education

Share the June free access paper with your colleagues beyond NAGT!

JGE Call for Papers: In Our VOICES (Voices Integrating Culture In The Earth Sciences)

The Journal of Geoscience Education is soliciting manuscripts for a special issue on geoscience education showcasing the perspective of authentic voices of diverse geoscientists and geoscience educators. This issue seeks to highlight scholars from historically underrepresented communities (e.g. Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/Alaska Native/Indigenous, Asian American/Pacific Islander, LGBTQ, geoscientists with disabilities) who are engaged in geoscience education, diversity initiatives, and racial justice issues with diverse communities. This special issue presents an opportunity to share knowledge gained from authentic lived experiences on best practices for inclusive active geoscience education and research projects. Papers will provide insights into effective pedagogical practices and examine how an individual's intersectional identity impacts geoscientists, students, practitioners and communities in the classroom, laboratory, and in the field. The issue will provide a platform for diverse and authentic voices to present their educational research, commentary, and curriculum and instruction through their own lens with specific meaning as intended rather than interpreted through different cultural lenses.

For theme issue questions contact Kim Hannula, Editor-in-Chief (jge-editor@nagt.org)

NAGT Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award nominations due June 15

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards are presented to outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education, with up to 30 awards given annually. Both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Nominations must be submitted by the department chair or faculty member coordinating teaching assistants. Nominate by June 15, 2020.

Contribute to the Featured Stories in Diversity

Do you have an idea, experience, observation, or request regarding diversity, equity, and/or inclusion in the Earth Sciences that you would like to share with the greater NAGT community? The NAGT DEI committee is seeking stories, thoughts, impressions, and artwork relating to discrimination in all its forms, as well as the opposite: stories of giving or receiving support, overcoming challenges, points of pride, experiences of belonging.

Use this form to contribute an idea, experience, observation, or request regarding diversity, equity, and/or inclusion in the Earth Sciences that you would like to share with the greater NAGT community.

For the purpose of this project, "diversity, equity, and inclusion" includes, but is not limited to: racism, sexism, ableism, classism, and genderism. Stories may include the experiences of being subject to the above, subjecting others to the above, and/or unique experiences specific to one's own identity that one wishes the Geoscience Community had more awareness of.

Please review the guidelines before submitting a story. You can reach out to nagt-diversitycommittee@serc.carleton.edu with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the project.

Submit your story

Support K-12 Teachers Attending the 2021 Earth Educators' Rendezvous

Send a teacher to the Rendezvous! Donations to the NAGT Professional Development Fund received between March 1-June 30 will go toward supporting K-12 educators who attend the 2021 Earth Educators' Rendezvous.

Our goal is to provide 3 days of registration for 20 K-12 teachers. Help us meet our goal with a contribution of any amount to the NAGT Professional Development Fund today!

Donate today!

Want to help us spread the word? Download the flyer and share it with colleagues! (Acrobat (PDF) 4.5MB Mar31 21)

Last chance to register for the 2021 Earth Educators' Rendezvous, Online

Registration and abstract submission are now open for the seventh annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous, taking place online from July 12-16, 2021! NAGT members receive $100 off registration. Registration ends June 15!

Help AGI understand how workplace and instructional environments are changing in response to COVID-19

The American Geosciences Institute's Geoscience COVID-19 Impacts study has been extended into a second phase that will continue the longitudinal study through March 2022, thanks to continued support by the National Science Foundation (Award #2029570). The second phase of this study will focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the way in which geoscientists work and study and how workplace and instructional environments transition into post-pandemic configurations. A key focus of the second phase of the study will be assessing pandemic-related impacts to the academic achievement and early-career trajectories of geoscience students, new graduates, and early-career geoscientists. The study will also examine the strategies being implemented by geoscience faculty, academic departments, and employers to mitigate these pandemic-related impacts.

The study will continue to accept new participants through January 2022 and is open to all geoscientists, including students, retirees, and those not currently employed, who reside in the United States, and are at least 18 years old. We also encourage company, organization, and academic leaders to participate one behalf of their organizations to elucidate the organization-level changes underway.

For more information and to participate in the study, please visit https://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/covid19

Do you have good news related to your geoscience education work that you would like to share with the NAGT community? Submit to NAGT's Community Kudos!

The 7th Annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous - Online July 12-16, 2021

Registration and abstract submission are now open for the seventh annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous, taking place online from July 12-16, 2021! NAGT members receive $100 off registration.

Virtual Workshop: Teaching Computation Online with MATLAB - Online October 17-19, 2021

At this 3-day faculty-led workshop, educators in Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Geoscience, Math, Physics, and allied fields will develop curriculum while sharing strategies, tools, and challenges teaching computational courses in in-person and online settings. Participants will work alongside peers and MATLAB experts to both develop and upgrade teaching content and course materials that incorporate MATLAB for computation. Workshop discussions will include strategies, tools, and best practices for building computational thinking skills in classroom and online settings.

Learn more and apply to attend the workshop by June 15!

Geoscience Education Research (GER) Division

Nominate a colleague for the GER Transformation and Collaborations Award

Nominations for the GER Transformation and Collaborations Awards are now open! These awards recognize those who have made significant contributions to the development of and capacity for geoscience education research, including non-GER colleagues (e.g. geophysicists, educational psychologists, education researchers) who have infused the GER community with new ideas. Find out more about both awards and make your nominations by June 15, 2021!

Teacher Education (TED) Division

Post to the TED Division Facebook Page

Members are invited to post time-critical information on the TED Division Facebook page.

Apply for the AWG Geoscience Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Accessibility (IDEA) Scholarship

The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) is currently accepting applications for its Geoscience Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Accessibility (IDEA) Scholarship (formerly known as the Minority Scholarship). We would LOVE if you can help us spread the word!

The Geoscience IDEA Scholarship exists to encourage women from under-served communities to pursue a career in Earth Science and to promote diversity in the future geoscience workforce. This Scholarship is open to undergraduates majoring in Geology or Earth Science. If you are in a position to encourage one or more undergraduate students who are eligible, please go to http://awg.org/Awards and scroll down to the Student Awards section for more information or to help someone apply. Applications are due June 30, 2021.

Working Conference on Wicked Problems in STEM Teacher Preparation: Catalyzing Change Through Strategic Collaborations - June 24-25, 2021

Are you grappling with challenging problems related to STEM teacher preparation at the elementary or secondary level? Are you interested in making research-based improvements to your STEM teacher preparation programs? Would you like to increase the number and diversity of students in your programs? Are you interested in collaborating with others to come up with innovative solutions to these challenges?

If so, we invite you to a very different type of conference where you will virtually collaborate with a diverse set of colleagues from around the country to:

Learn about and begin to address some of the most vexing (wicked) problems in STEM teacher preparation
Work with a team from your institution or region to create an action plan designed to disrupt and then improve your program during the next 1-5 years
Help build a networked improvement community to catalyze and support regular improvements in STEM teacher preparation programs through cross institutional collaborations.

Learn more and register today!

NAGT does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on an externally-linked website. NAGT does not necessarily endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, nor endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.

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