COSEE- Ocean Learning Communities' (COSEE-OLC) central premise is that citizens need to become ocean science literate and informed by current research if they are to be aware of the impact the oceans have on their physical and economic health, and if increased citizen stewardship of the marine environment is to occur. The University of Washington's College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, the University of Washington's College of Education and the Seattle Aquarium will establish an "Ocean Learning Communities - COSEE" (OLC-COSEE), a thematic COSEE that will foster collaborations among the oceanography research community, the science of learning community, the general public, and the maritime industry. OLC-COSEE will leverage the expertise and resources of the College of Education's NSF-funded Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) "Science of Learning" Research Center as well as each of the partners' existing outreach and educational efforts.
COSEE-OLC will organize, cultivate and sustain science-based, ocean-informed Learning Communities composed of diverse stakeholders, including the maritime business community, who will collaborate to promote sound oceans education. OLC-COSEE's main catalytic activity will be creating Ocean Learning Communities, or gatherings of traditionally disparate stakeholders such as scientists, educators, representatives from businesses with a connection to the oceans, and citizens who derive economic or recreational sustenance from the oceans. Through structured learning activities, the communities will develop a common language and a commitment to creating collaborations that will improve ocean research and public awareness at the regional and national levels.
Citizens and scientists will learn together through the Learning Community. Citizens will become citizen-scientists as they learn basic ocean science concepts and terminology. Scientists will learn how to engage citizens. The learning experiences will create a catalytic cycle of change culminating in citizens with the skills, commitment and efficacy to work with the COSEE-OLC partners in creating collaborative, science-based signature projects supporting education and outreach.
The PI's, the evaluation team, and additional participants from each partner institution have formed a learning community and begun the journey of establishing common language and goals through sustained discussions of issues, partners, and educational possibilities. Guided by the expertise of an Advisory Committee including senators, high-ranking military personnel, a former astronaut, the vice president of the American Museum of Natural History in New-York and the chief executive officer of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation , the partnership will foster and study new learning models in ocean sciences and attract additional funds to support on-going activities. Very few learning models focus on the interdisciplinary, fast-changing, technology-driven and still exploratory nature of ocean sciences and its associated research questions. The Ocean Learning Communities' approach will provide both science and cognitive research-based educational practices that can be disseminated through the National COSEE Network to advance the oceanography community's understanding of the power of oceanography education for our nation.
