Rendezvous Overview

The 2015 first annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous brought together researchers and practitioners working in all aspects of undergraduate Earth education. We welcome faculty from all disciplines who are interested in improving their teaching about the Earth, administrators from geoscience departments and interdisciplinary programs that want to become stronger, and education researchers of all types. Participants joined the Rendezvous for 2 or 3 days or stayed the whole week.

Themes

The Rendezvous helped us individually and collectively address the suite of interrelated challenges faced by undergraduate Earth Education today:

developing students' higher order geoscientific skills, from data analysis to critical thinking to effective communication
increasing the number and diversity of students who learn about Earth
collaborating with colleagues across the disciplines to situate learning about Earth in a societal context
supporting current and future teachers in successfully implementing the Next Generation Science Standards
preparing competitive graduates who move easily into and within the broad and changing geoscience workforce
pursuing education research that supports our ability to address these challenges

Program

The Earth Rendezvous program will bring together these themes into a rich tapestry of workshops, contributed talks and posters, plenary sessions, and working groups. Drawing across the work currently taking place in geoscience, environmental, and sustainability education, meeting attendees will have the opportunity to learn broadly, focus on a particular issue or challenge, or something in between. All are invited to submit abstracts to the contributed program of posters and short presentations.

Morning workshops and working groups will meet for two or three days. Workshops are interactive with participants learning from experts and from one another in formats that build on research-based pedagogies. They provide an opportunity each day to synthesize ideas from the afternoon sessions and put them to use in your own institutional context. These sessions feature time to work on your own introductory or upper-division course, to plan new ways to strengthen your program, or to focus on a particular teaching skill.

The extended lunch hour provides an opportunity to see what is going on in the community around you and to network. Each day, a poster session will provide stimulation for conversation with colleagues old and new.

Each afternoon you can pick from a set of themed sessions with contributed presentations or a short workshop. These sessions allow you to sample areas where you have specific needs or interests. Sessions will range from a focus on teaching a topic (e.g. climate change or earthquake hazards) or technique (e.g. flipping your class) to a broad challenge faced by our community (e.g. increasing the diversity of your graduates or building connections with industry). A technical program committee will select presentations and will arrange them into a set of themed sessions.

The formal program will end each day with a plenary speaker providing a common experience for all participants and an opportunity to hear from someone typically beyond our reach at smaller-scale functions. Then, the streets of Boulder beckon with venues for informal networking and fun with colleagues.

We invite research groups or working groups to meet jointly with the Rendezvous and have reserved space for these activities.

View Program Search Program

Expectations

Participants will be asked to prepare in advance for their workshops, to attend all sessions of the workshop for which they are registered, and to participate fully in the workshops and the Rendezvous.

Dates

The Rendezvous began at 8:30 a.m. on Monday July 13 and ended at 5:00 p.m. on July 17. Morning workshops lasted three days (beginning on Monday) or two days (beginning on Thursday). Participants can register for any number of days however, your fifth day is free!

Registration and Abstract Submission

Registration is closed for 2015. Visit the Rendezvous home page for current events.

Registration Presenter Guidelines

We welcome participation by all who are interested in teaching and learning about the Earth including faculty and administrators from two-year and four-year colleges and universities, teachers of high school Earth science, faculty in all disciplines who teach about some aspect of the Earth or would like to incorporate such teaching in the future, students and post-docs interested in these topics, and program leaders in geoscience, environmental science, environmental studies, sustainability, or other programs with an Earth component. All participants are invited to submit an abstract to be considered for inclusion in the contributed program of short presentations and posters. An NAGT membership will provide a $100 registration discount. Also, there will be a $20/day group discount and a $20 research meeting discount (research groups application passed February 16th) to receive the $20/day discount). A limited number of travel stipends are available for those with a financial need (application deadline has passed).

2015 Registration Fees*

	By April 13 Early Registration				After April 13 Standard Registration
	1 day	2 day	3 day	4/5 day	1 day	2 day	3 day	4/5 day
NAGT member fee	$100	$200	$300	$400	$200	$300	$400	$500
Standard fee	$200	$300	$400	$500	$300	$400	$500	$600

*Cancellation policy: Registration cancellations must be made in writing to Krista Herbstrith (kherbstr @ carleton.edu) and received by May 15th, 2015 to receive a full refund minus a $30 processing fee. No refunds will be given after the cancellation deadline of May 15th, 2015.

On-site Expenses

Participants are responsible for their own meals and accommodations.

Facilities

The workshop will take place on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Colorado. Participants are responsible for their own transportation, lodging, and meals. Participants can choose to stay in dormitories or in the conference hotel which are both within walking distance of the meeting and of downtown Boulder.