This award continues funding for the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence - South East (COSEE SE) with administrative offices located at the South Carolina Sea Grant in Charleston, SC. The proposed regional COSEE effort is focused on the South Atlantic Bight in 3 states (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia). COSEE SE has a centralized administration with a full-time director and geographically distributed team members. Activities include: annual, week-long Ocean Leadership workshops for teachers and scientists at different marine labs in each state, Ocean Awareness Days at many small informal education sites in each state, team-based workshops for middle school teachers based on a curriculum specifically designed for coastal SC, NC and Georgia, workshops to promote the use of regional ocean observing data in classrooms, Coastal Legacy programs that use the local African American heritage to develop activities that will attract these students to marine science, a test of a middle school immersion program for marine science in two schools, and a well developed evaluation effort. COSEE SE provides a significant regional service as the hub of a network for the education and outreach efforts of regional research programs such as SEACOOS and sub-regional, ocean observing programs. The Center will continue to expand this responsibility by reaching out to additional science and education partners, adding them to the existing data base inventory, and helping them have some direct interaction with COSEE SE activities. COSEE SE's efforts will highlight research on the South Atlantic Bight, inventory diversity projects, develop curriculum, and connect to the national COSEE network. COSEE SE will also be an active participant in the national education network for IOOS. COSEE SE and COSEE MidAtlantic propose to develop and hold a workshop for scientists and educators to develop applications for the classroom using real-time SEACOOS data. In addition, new partnerships are proposed. These new partnerships are possible because of the networks established in the initial funding period. The program includes an increased diversity outreach component building on the past COSEE SE successes with African-Americans, and will also expand the number and kinds of outreach and workshop programs to increase coastal awareness in the three states.
Time Period: 09/15/2005 02/28/2011 PI: M. Richard DeVoe Lois L. Spence Location: South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, Charleston, SC The Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence SouthEast (COSEE SE), operational since 2003, serves North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and is an active participant in the National COSEE Network. COSEE SE addresses challenges related to enhancing opportunities, resources, communication and leadership skills of scientists as they seek to perform outreach to target audiences, and of educators to improve access to current and contemporary ocean science research information and processes that will enhance ocean literacy. NSF support enabled COSEE SE to build on the foundation in its first three formative years, and to test new methods for inclusion, professional development and support for scientists in outreach. COSEE SE accomplished the following in support of its strategic challenges: • COSEE SE developed innovative models of professional development programs for formal and informal educators and scientists. Five residential summer thematic workshops rotated regionally at universities and marine laboratories. Two Institutes (’07 and ’08) focused on undersea research and technology in which the participants (educators and scientists) learned about the continental shelf of the South Atlantic Bight, used STEM exercise to construct remotely operated vehicles based on MIT Sea Perch ROV model and gained research field experiences onboard research vessels. Two Institutes (’09 and ’10) focused on research evidence of climate change in the southeast, implemented inquiry lessons and had a teleconference with COSEE Alaska teachers to share ideas about climate change in these two geographically diverse locations. One Institute (’06) focused on the dynamic nature of shorelines, geology, hurricanes and hazards. The outreach model for each Institute was the connection of informal science education centers with Institute participants. Participants applied new leadership skills and knowledge content to coordinate one-day workshops for local educators, thus multiplying the impact of the Institute and reaching new audiences. In the five years of this award, COSEE SE has coordinated 9 week-long professional development programs and over 60 one-to-three-day programs that reached over 700 teachers and engaged over 100 scientists. These educators had exposure to ocean science concepts and tested leadership in over 20 informal science centers. Programs align concepts with both national and state standards and address Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. . Pre- and post-evaluation of the educator participants have demonstrated significant perceptional gain in concept knowledge and ability and confidence in teaching skills. • COSEE SE continues to address the ethnic/racial/cultural diversity of the southeast region and foster new strategies to broaden participation in the ocean sciences. The COSEE SE Team has reached into scientific and education communities to get advice on broadening participation. The COSEE SE Board of Advisors, which is 30% non-white, assists in the identification of themes and assists with recruitment strategies. In addition, COSEE SE Team members have been PIs on two NSF OEDG awards; one tested pipeline and mentoring strategies between research labs, HBCU and middle school students; and, one invited collaborative sharing among regional universities for successful diversity initiatives and funding sources. • COSEE SE established benchmarks through regional surveys: (1) identifying regional scientists who are engaged with outreach and with COSEE SE; and, (2) identifying the regional career diversity of scientists in universities and state/federal agencies. COSEE SE is a collaborative of its team members, Board of Advisors and partners in the science and education communities. These partnerships enable COSEE SE to leverage its funding and assets. A strong partnership with the Southeastern Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) and NOAA IOOS has enabled COSEE SE to introduce the STEM project—Basic Observation Buoy or BOB—into high schools and four universities. These scaled-down, but operational and instrumented, buoys can monitor specific water conditions in quiet waters as tidal creeks and impoundments. A data portal is being tested by UNC-W as a site for the educational grade information to be uploaded and shared among regional schools. COSEE SE’s broader impacts have included partnerships with scientists on NSF proposals for their research and recruitment of appropriate educators, extensive use of presentations at regional and national conferences, publications, curricula, and an effective website, www.cosee-se.org.
