GeoFORCE Texas 12th Grade Summer Academy: 2018 and 2019 Field Program
Overview
The Summer Academy is an immersive, weeklong program for rising 12th grade GeoFORCE Texas GeoFORCE Texas and STEMFORCE students. It is set in Austin with field excursions to the Texas Hill Country and Llano Uplift, and visits to labs in UT Austin's Jackson School of Geoscience.
Curriculum follows the STAR Legacy Cycle STAR Legacy Cycle model in which specific challenges drive learning as a collaborative experience. Each challenge contains a set of goals, and through active achievement of those goals, learners acquire knowledge and skills. Learners practice tasks that are real and adopt the practices of discipline experts (cognitive apprenticeship). Within the challenge there are stages, or categories of activities, through which learners progress. At any time, learners may look ahead to see what's next, or go back to review information or revise work based on new learning.
A team of geoscience content and education experts (Education Coaches), and graduate and undergraduate students (Education-Coaches-in Training) facilitate learning. Instructors are mentors and coaches—observing learners in action, providing feedback, and identifying and correcting misconceptions. They supports peer-peer mentoring interactions.
GeoFORCE students are from minority-serving Texas high schools in Houston and Southwest Texas. They remain in GeoFORCE for four years and new regional cohorts of learners are added every year. GeoFORCE earned a Presidential Award for STEM Mentoring in 2013.
Instructor and Staff Resources
- GeoFORCE and STEMFORCE staff and instructional team members Roles and responsibilities for the 12th Grade Academy.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Apr29 19)
- Geology Overview.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 120kB Apr29 19). Includes descriptions of the geology at the field stops and references (scholarly articles, field trip guides, reports).
- Suggested Station Guide.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 47kB Apr30 19)
- Tool Kits and Supplies.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 19kB May3 19) (virtual toolkit, field toolkit, and classroom supplies and materials)
- Suggested Day 1 Welcome and Overview.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB May3 19)
- Suggested In-Class Activities.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 32kB May3 19)
- Trip Itinerary 2019 (Note: Itinerary will change each year)
- SFA 12 Trip Intinerary.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Apr29 19)
- GFSW 12 Schedule 2019.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 24kB May28 19)