Mississippi State University's Center for Science, Mathematics & Technology (CSMT) and the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI) are collaborating to enhance K-12 instruction in Earth science through a teacher enhancement program on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Using an Earth systems approach, Teachers Exploring Coastal Hazards and Resilience is increasing teachers' understanding of coastal hazards and resilience along the Northern Gulf of Mexico, as well as introduce them to geoscience career opportunities that may benefit their students. Goals of the program are to deliver Earth science content that connects geoscience education to local conditions and ecosystems, enhance teacher knowledge of geoscience careers, develop lesson plans adapting workshop activities to the classroom, and increase student interest in geoscience careers. During two-week summer workshops, 40 in-service science teachers in grades 5-8 (20 each summer) from the St. Tammany and Orleans Parish districts in Louisiana and school districts in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties in Mississippi are participating in hands-on activities and lesson plan preparation. The workshops are being conducted on location at NOAA (National Data Buoy Center, National Coastal Data Development Center, National Weather Service, and Fisheries Service), Naval Oceanographic Office, Naval Research Laboratory, NASA, University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Center, and Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory. Teachers participate in two online follow-up sessions during each academic school year.
Mississippi State University’s Center for Science, Mathematics & Technology (CSMT) and the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), in conjunction with other coastal partners, collaborated to enhance K-12 instruction in earth science through a teacher enhancement program on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Using an earth systems approach, the Teachers Exploring Coastal Hazards and Resilience project was designed to increase teacher understanding of coastal hazards and resilience along the Northern Gulf of Mexico, as well introduce them to geoscience career opportunities and increase student interest in earth science and geoscience careers. The goals of the program were to 1) deliver earth science content that connects geoscience education to local conditions and ecosystems, 2) enhance teacher knowledge of geoscience careers, 3) develop lesson plans adapting workshop activities to the classroom, and 4) increase student interest in geosciences careers. To accomplish these goals two two-week summer workshops with follow-up sessions were conducted for teachers from the St. Tammany and Orleans Parish districts in Louisiana and school districts in Hancock, Harrison, and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Teachers participated in hands-on activities at sites that included Stennis Space Center, the National Weather Service, the National Data Buoy Center, NOAA National Fisheries Service Lab, Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory. Teachers were exposed to careers in earth science and prepared to incorporate knowledge gained and activities into their curriculum. Teacher participant involvement in project expanded their knowledge on the content covered in the scope of this project as measured by the content assessment. They were generally comfortable with their ability to effectively teacher science to their students, including the management of hands-on lab exercises. Most participants acknowledged that their experiences in this project provided knowledge that would either be different or unavailable via traditional teaching resources. Participants noted the benefits of seeing how disciplines interconnect, learning to use technology to communicate information to students, gaining additional strategies for problem solving, and honing their skills with graphing/charting and interpreting those graphs/charts. They noted the importance of being knowledgeable in their chosen field so they can relay information to their students. Teachers Exploring Coastal Hazards and Resilience used an earth systems approach to increase teacher understandings of coastal hazards and resilience along the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Based on teacher comments in their Reflective Journals, it is evident that every participant indicated an increased awareness of the hazards facing the region and the components that are involved in the resilient nature of the area. Participants saw the connection between the science emphasized within the project and local area conditions and ecosystems. The pre and post content assessment data gathered using the GCI Concept Inventory indicated that teachers taking the assessments in 2011 and 2012 reached a significant gain in content knowledge as a result of participation in the project. Anecdotal information gathered on the Reflective Journals indicated that teachers had increased awareness of careers associated with the geosciences. Many specifically named area businesses that employ individuals engaged in activities that require expertise in geoscience. Further, teachers mentioned an intention to actively explore these potential jobs with students and assist students with exploring earth and geoscience as a career choice. As this was a stated goal of the project, it is apparent that this goal was met. The third major goal of the project involved development of lesson plans adapted from workshop activities so that teachers could share these and use the materials in their classrooms upon return. Lesson plans were developed and shared with all participants. Increasing student interest in geoscience careers was another stated goal for this project. When teachers were interviewed at the conclusion of the project, most indicated that the hands-on activities, videos, and Internet resources that were utilized during the training would be used with students. The attitudinal survey, entitled Science Teaching Efficacy and Belief Inventory (STEBI), generally indicated that teacher participants feel an increase in their capability to impart a love of science to their students. This project deepened participating teachers’ knowledge of the content they teach, increasing their ability to share this knowledge with their students. The teachers benefited from the collaboration, hands-on experiences, and professional guidance supplied by this opportunity.
