Initial Publication Date: March 21, 2007

As a Participant in This Research Project

As a participant in a Building Strong Geoscience Departments workshop, you are being asked to take part in a research project conducted by the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College. We received funding from the National Science Foundation for this project (GEO-0331930, GEO-0331933, GEO-0614926, GEO-0614570, and GEO-0614393). Current work is being conducted under grants DUE-0817353 and DUE-0817265. The purpose of this research is to investigate:

  • What constitutes a "strong" geoscience department
  • Effective practices that define a "strong" department
  • Barriers that inhibit a geoscience department's success in building a "strong" department
  • How participation in Building Strong Geoscience Departments workshops contributes to building a strong geoscience department (for relevant participants).

If you agree to take part in this study, we will analyze the information you submit in the application and registration forms, as well as the materials you submit as part of the workshop and its follow-on activities (e.g. scenarios and solutions, evaluation forms, follow-up surveys). You may also be asked to participate in a telephone interview. We will conduct the interviews via telephone 2-6 months after the workshop. If you do not wish to be audio taped, you may choose not to participate in this part of the study.

This data will be incorporated into our research results in aggregate. Presentation of the material will be confined to project work groups, professional publications, and conferences. When individual quotes are used to illustrate important points, your name will not be identified. There are no foreseeable risks resulting from your participation. Your participation in this workshop is voluntary and you may leave at any time.

If you have questions about this project, please contact Dr. Cathryn A. Manduca, Director of the Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 55057. Phone: (507) 222-7096, email: cmanduca@carleton.edu.

The chair of the Institutional Review Board, Sharon Akimoto, can be reached at Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057. Phone: (507) 222-4224, email: sakimoto@carleton.edu.