This Exploration & Design project, of the Engaged Student Learning track of the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program, will develop, test, and study high-quality undergraduate instructional materials that integrate field-based geoscience learning into elementary teacher education. Historically, the geosciences have been taught inconsistently to future elementary teachers, and many elementary teachers enter their practice lacking strong exposure to geoscience topics. The geosciences are central to issues of importance to human well-being and global sustainability, and strong K-12 geoscience instruction is critical to ensuring the development of citizens who can make informed decisions in their own lives and for inspiring a new generation of geoscientists. The geoscience workforce has the lowest participation by underrepresented minorities of any of the sciences, and if the geoscience workforce is to grow in both numbers and diversity, more attention to the preparation of teachers of earth science across grade levels is needed. This project addresses this problem by testing a new model for geoscience instruction in a science content course for elementary education majors. The model integrates principles of field-based experiences and informal, out-of-classroom learning using the highly successful EarthCaching program as a foundation for teacher candidates' learning. The new curriculum materials will directly impact 225 undergraduate education majors during the grant period, with the goal of increasing their knowledge of earth science core concepts and positive attitudes towards field-based learning, thereby strengthening their preparation to teach science in their own classrooms.
The project responds to the need for further studies on how informal learning complements the formal classroom environment. The project will develop and study a curriculum that includes an Introduction to EarthCaching module and six EarthCaching authentic field-based experiences to be completed outside of class time. The curriculum will be aimed at pre-service elementary teachers; however, the materials will be appropriate for special education and early childhood education majors. This enhanced course content will support pre-service teachers to connect abstract geoscience concepts to real-world contexts. The project will employ qualitative and quantitative research methods, providing a rich dataset to advance understanding of the impact of field-based informal learning on teacher candidates' knowledge of earth science as aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. Furthermore, the research will examine teacher willingness to use informal learning experiences with their students after participating in such an activity and changes in their own personal dispositions towards lifelong science learning. The curriculum materials will become a permanent component of the science content course for pre-service teachers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and will be widely disseminated to the teacher education and geoscience education communities. The research findings will be the foundation for a larger project to examine the role of informal learning in the preparation of science teachers across different institutional contexts. Additionally, project-developed EarthCaches that are accepted into the EarthCaching.org public database will be available for discovery and exploration by members of the general public, with expected visits in the many thousands. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program is providing co-funding for this project in recognition of its alignment with the broader teacher preparation goals of the Noyce effort.
