This OEDG Planning Grant award is being used to establish collaborations across the state of Michigan as part of an effort to increase the number and quality of rigorous high school geoscience courses and the establishment of more dual-enrollment courses in the geosciences. The broader goals of this project are to elevate the stature of the geosciences and potentially reach a new generation of students, increase the number of students selecting geoscience careers, and broaden diversity within the workforce. This award will begin to outline a strategy for training teachers from throughout Michigan to teach the 12th grade High School Advanced Geology (HSAG) course developed by Mattox and Bolhuis. Expected outcomes of the planning phase include: 1) a consortium of universities that agree to give college credit to students who take the HSAG course from a trained instructor and who pass an approved test that will be graded by faculty at the participating universities; 2)pathways between Earth science teachers from high schools with diverse students and faculty in university geology departments; and, 3) marketing and recruitment strategies that engage diverse student populations.
PI: Stephen Mattox Awardee: Grand Valley State University Short description of project Geologists provide energy, materials, and water that are vital to the economy. They are charged with protecting the public from hazards and mitigating environmental problems. To address the national shortage of geologists and to diversify the geoscience workforce we are constructing a seamless path from a high quality high school geology class taught by a well-trained teacher to geoscience programs at state universities and colleges. This program is modeled on an existing high school – university collaboration that has added a significant number of students to the career pipeline. In the absence of an AP program in geology the growth of high level, dual-credit courses will engage a new pool of talented students to take this subject in high school and gain early exposure to a promising career path. We have obtained Memorandums of Understanding from school districts, including the Detroit Public School District, with high populations of diverse students that have administrators and teachers ready to join the program. Discussions and visits with department chairs and faculty at numerous state universities and colleges resulted in a second set of Memorandums of Understanding to award college credit to students that successfully pass a rigorous credit by exam. State universities and colleges that have signed memorandums include Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technical University, Wayne State University, Western Michigan University and Hope College. Memorandums are expected soon from Central Michigan University and University of Michigan at Dearborn. Meetings are planned with University of Michigan and Northern Michigan University. This exam is prepared, reviewed, and administered by geology department faculty. At a minimum this program will add geoscience literacy to a large number of high school students; in addition, a significant benefit is to introduce students to a new branch of science at an early stage of career selection to guide them into the national science workforce.
