Workshop Overview

This workshop will give you the opportunity to work together to transform teaching and learning in your introductory geoscience courses. Driving forces for change may be external, like increased enrollments, transitioning from quarters to semesters and to a new General Education program, or internal, like wanting to broaden access to the geosciences and engage community partners. These changes provide opportunities for reflection, learning new techniques and strategies, and engaging with others to transform teaching.

Over the course of the workshop, we will engage in a series of activities that will help you think about your course from the student learning perspective. You will learn about pedagogical techniques by engaging in them, not just by hearing about them. You will leave the workshop having begun to (re)design your course and with an action plan and resources for continuing the process.

Workshop Goals

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Establish a community of practice invested in teaching that supports student learning in introductory geoscience courses
• Effectively incorporate high-impact practices into introductory geoscience courses, particularly large lecture courses
• Define Earth-related societal issues that are relevant for the diverse local community
• Use relevant societal issues in teaching geoscience content to engage diverse learners
• Use the backward design process to (re)design a course

Dates

September 7, 1:00-5:00 pm, September 8, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Expectations

In order to achieve the goals of this workshop, participants are expected to:

• Register for the workshop by Tuesday August 15.
• By Friday, August 25:
• Complete the pre-workshop submission, which will generate a web page that you will be working on during the workshop, and
• Complete a survey about your teaching practices;
• By the workshop, read articles below in preparation for discussion during the workshop:
• JGE article, McConnell & van Der Hoeven Kraft, 2011 on Student Learning (Acrobat (PDF) 79kB Aug1 17)
• Choose one or more of the following web sites to read (each link is to an overview page with several sub-pages):
• Connect to the world we live in in your course
• Connect justice to sustainability in your course
• Attract and support diverse learners in your program
• Teach Earth across the curriculum in your program
• During the workshop, participate in all sessions, develop and submit an action plan, and complete a workshop evaluation;
• After the workshop, complete a follow-up survey as requested.

Facilities

The workshop will take place on the campus of CSU San Bernardino, in room 112 on the first floor of the Biological Sciences building. You can find a campus map and directions to the campus at https://www.csusb.edu/maps-directions. The Biological Sciences building (labeled "BI" on the campus map) is connected to the Chemical Sciences building (labeled "CS" on the campus map), so make sure you are in the Biological Sciences building, which is the older building, located east of the Chemical Sciences building.

Parking on campus is available for $6/day. Lot N is the closest lot to the Biological Sciences building, and can be entered from North Campus Circle. Make sure to avoid the faculty/staff parking spaces. Daily parking permits can be purchased at a vending machine near the entrance to lot N, or at the information kiosk at the entrance to the campus on University Parkway. More information on parking can be found at https://www.csusb.edu/parking/parking-permits/daily.

For More Information

For questions about workshop content, please contact Rachel Teasdale (rteasdale AT csuchico.edu).

For questions about the local site, please contact Sally McGill (smcgill AT csusb.edu or at 909 537 5347).