This award provides continued funding for COSEE California (COSEE CA) which has demonstrated its ability to develop successful, catalytic activities that spark and nurture collaborations among scientists and educators to advance ocean literacy. COSEE CA combines the resources and expertise of original partners, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, with two new partners, San Diego Unified School District and The College of Exploration. With the goal of increasing public awareness and understanding of the ocean, COSEE?CA will embark on three major initiatives: 1) Supporting the Ocean Literacy campaign (developing and validating an ocean sciences learning progression to accompany the Ocean Literacy scope & sequence, and disseminating the Ocean Literacy framework); 2) Strategic national dissemination of Communicating Ocean Sciences to Formal and Informal Audiences by streamlining the implementation process to reach large numbers of new institutions; and 3) supporting sustained partnerships among teachers, facilitators and researchers to develop cutting-edge educational tools that promote inquiry through the use of technology-mediated visualizations, simulations and investigations. Together, these three initiatives comprise a coherent strategy for building the nation?s capacity for putting into practice the Essential Principles of Ocean Literacy at all levels of formal education. COSEE CA is focused on the following objectives: 1) bring the content knowledge and technology tools of ocean scientists into the world of K-12 and postsecondary education; 2) build Network-wide collaborations that provide COSEE with national standing and a collective voice; 3) develop and disseminate model programs that increase the public?s understanding of the ocean; and 4) conduct educational research to bring ocean sciences into mainstream science education curriculum and standards.
COSEE CA has been dedicated to creating collaborations among scientists and educators that enhance the public's understanding and appreciation of the ocean. COSEE CA, one of the original centers in the National COSEE Network, was funded by the National Science Foundation in 2002 and re-funded in 2007. COSEE CA developed and disseminates the award winning Communicating Ocean Sciences courses; co-leads the Ocean Literacy Campaign; designs tools for Teaching Ocean Sciences in the 21st Century Classroom; launched the MARE Center at Scripps; developed the Marine Sciences Careers website; and develops tools for educators and courses that are in widespread use throughout the nation. COSEE CA initiatives are diverse, meeting the needs of ocean scientists, K-12 teachers and students, informal educators, and undergraduate and graduate science students. COSEE CA initiatives, leaders, and collaborations had a synergistic effect that rendered the impact of the Center as a whole greater than the sum of its parts. This synergy enabled COSEE CA to play a critical role in the national movement to transform ocean sciences education in the United States. COSEE CA made a significant impact on the field, both in terms of program outputs (the breadth of their reach) and in terms of outcomes for scientists, educators, and learners. More specifically, COSEE CA realized 3 areas of impact: (A) Products and dissemination formats transformed ocean sciences education. COSEE California contributed to the field not only through direct leadership, participation, and development, but also through the development of exemplary models of products and programs; (B) Significant benefits for scientists and science education. COSEE CA realized deep and significant benefits both to scientists and to the scientific enterprise as a whole; and (C) Contribution to the body of knowledge related to ocean sciences education and outreach. COSEE CA’s research and evaluation efforts contributed to the growing body of knowledge related to ocean sciences education and outreach. In order to achieve this impact, COSEE CA pursued 3 intentional strategies: (1) COSEE CA played a significant leadership role in the national movement. Through engagement in various leadership roles and initiatives, COSEE CA emerged as a national leader in the field; (2) COSEE CA pursued structural mechanisms to ensure sustainability. COSEE California consistently ensured that the work it was pursuing would be sustainable past the term of the grant by embedding its work into existing organizational structures; and (3) COSEE CA strategically leveraged its efforts and funding. The impacts were made possible by the ability of COSEE CA leaders to leverage and augment Center capacity, expertise, reputation, initiatives, and funding in ways that increased their work’s scope, reach, and impact. Overall, COSEE CA played a critical role as a leader and producer within the COSEE Network and the field of ocean sciences education and outreach. COSEE CA’s collaborations, products, and contributions have had a deep and wide impact on the field, positioning COSEE CA as central to the movement to transform ocean sciences education in the United States.
