Initial Publication Date: May 3, 2006

Brainstorming Report outs

Friday May 16, 3:20 pm


Recruiting Geoscience Students for K-12 Teaching Careers: Warming the Climate and Recruiting the People



Developing Knowledge of Instructional Materials

  • Using the web
    • Provide exemplary good best-practice materials available as an online offering for K-12 teachers
    • Rely on exemplary existing materials
    • Build concept course based on materials
  • Classroom
    • Using classroom curricular materials in K-12 ES content courses
    • DLESE
    • NASA matrix linking materials standards -- materials need review
    • Summer programs need to be open to pre-service teachers -- they have both time and need; problem with funding not making it open to this group

Mentoring/Advising

  • Keeping students in college in the first place
    • Look at what historically black colleges are doing
    • Foster learning groups and peer groups, cohort groups of all kinds
  • Involve pre-service teachers and science majors in outreach programs like open houses.
  • Must have institutional support and connections between science and education departments
  • Get students to consider geology
  • Get beyond geology=rocks stereotype
  • Variety of things students need to know
    • They are adults now
    • How to make a lesson plan
    • Classroom management
    • Good contact on site between science, education, and students
  • Private universe -- what are misconceptions

Co-curricular activies

  • Important because they provide important knowlege that students don't get in curriculum that is necessary to succeed
  • Expose pre-service to in-service activities
  • National meetings
  • Workshops with in-service
  • Science fairs/after school/Saturday field trips (museums)
  • Critical aspects
    • Developing unit plans
    • Standards base (ES and other)
    • Web-based data sets
    • Demonstrate "hands-on" using simple tools (play dough)
    • Put in contact with people who run high tech equipment
  • Conditions
    • Partnerships are essential

Working with Teachers after they leave the Department

  • Why:
    • Networking
    • Need for credit
    • Remain part of profession
    • Despairable need for content
    • Teachers can be involved in research, department or professional development
  • Evidence it's important
    • Mass required for higher level of certification
    • Assessments show PD affects teaching
  • Critical aspects: conditions for success
    • Funding, evaluation, follow-up
    • Blend of content and pedagogy
    • Involve master teachers

Why are pre-service teachers important to departments?

Critical that they be active members of department to change second class status

  • Ideas:
    • TAs (give priority so can practice methods)
    • Outreach coordination (school visits to department, classroom contacts, recruitment tool for majors, give academic credit)
    • Research assistants in action research for faculty teacihng or on traditional research
    • Criterion 2 consultants for faculty
    • High quality peer mentors
    • Teaching freshman lab as components for graduation