This project is integrating scientific research with education in geoscience courses that serve general education students, pre-service teachers, and early geoscience majors. A collaborative of research specialists and education specialists from institutions ranging from R1 research to public liberal arts to a community college are part of this project, developing and classroom-testing learning materials from an archive underutilized by educators, deep-sea sediment cores from the world's oceans recovered by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and the Antarctic Drilling Program. The learning materials are based on authentic scientific data. Fundamental investigative practices and geoscience content on age, chronology, and Earth's climate history are being made accessible to college educators. Exercises on current advances and challenges to our understanding of global climate change history and the rapid response of the high latitudes to global warming, as well as the processes and excitement of scientific investigation and discovery are being developed for use in introductory earth science, oceanography, and historical geology courses. Scientific observational, analytical, and critical thinking skills are being infused in the exercises. The learning materials are being designed so that students can walk away ready to engage in societal conversations and discussions that center on past climate change and the scientific basis for interpreting Earth history. The learning materials are being disseminated through the JOILearning.org website, with links from SERC, and European- and Japanese-IODP websites. Presentations at conferences, journal manuscripts, and the facilitation of a teacher workshop at AGU are promoting the project outcome learning materials not only to college-level geoscience educators, but also to scientists, and high school and informal educators.
