Town Hall

Notes From Town Hall 2015

• What were the big take aways from the Rendezvous that we would like to share with our colleagues who couldn't attend?
• Here are participant reflections that were put forward during the meeting:
  
• there is interest in and support for good geoscience teaching
• systems are useful for everything: cultural, educational, earth
• good education happens in small group interactions (both for students and faculty)
  
• there are online places to go to learn further about teaching: there are lots of ready to go tested materials (these feel more doable after the weeks activities)
  
• the Rendezvous helped participants figure out what they are doing right so they can keep doing it
• implementation details are important, learn from mistakes and from others successes
• formal tools for evaluating courses and programs are available
  
• the Rendezvous great place for people new to geoscience education research to present and learn
• we need to bridge the gap between research and classroom to support effective practice
• there are parallels among subdisciplines of geoscience and opportunities to extend research that is being done in one subdiscipline into new domains of application
  

• What information/help/guidance would help people implement new pedagogies & uses of technology? What the barriers to implementation are across the country? - (submitted by Sharon Mosher)
• faculty should not be afraid to fail/scared to try new teaching methods
• the importance of using active learning
• encourage others to come see what you are doing with this
• talk less
• create trust with students of all types - ok not ot be a member of the diverse group
  
• colleagues should come here to learn (workshop as core activity was needed learning environment)
  
• show them the data - have students engage with data and data collection
  
• help students understand how different disciplines collect, interpret and use data
• put the user first
• students are being prepared for 21st century world with interdiscipinary problems -- we need to be helping them be able to work on these
• systems thinking is not just a technique-it can be a life style
• importance of planning/designing course through objectives, assessments and activities
• teach to your strengths/try things
• beyond teaching
• resources are our relatives (from Thursday plenary by Dan Wildcat)
  
• understanding how NGSS is changing K-12 and changing our teaching so that future teachers in our class are being appropriately prepared
• geoscience ed is a kind of social science research
• we need places in our departments for people to explore/do Geoscience education reserarch without fear or repurcussion
• high context/low context framework (Culutral Competence workshop) provides productive way to think about teaching and interactions to be more effective with diverse students/people
• high context/low context framework can help you understand who your students are and how they are prepared to learn
  
• commonalities across disciplines and employers needs that unite the geosciences and can unite our approach to geoscience education and provide a framework for assessment (from What does it mean to be a Geoscientist workshop)
  
• preparing for the workforce is a moving target as is where our students are coming from and want to go -- this all changes over time
• how to conceptualize, assess and fund program level improvements
• students are changing and will enter with more geoscience as NGSS is implemented (from Next Generation Science Standards workshop)
  
• diversity of ideas for GED direction - interest group effort at white paper to identify highest priorities for GED to help research community focus and NSF argue for funds (from Synthesizing Geoscience Education Research workshop)_
  
• Rendezvous website can provide a window into the Rendezvous for those who couldn't attend
• value of insights from greater Earth education community and beyond - history, cognitive science etc.
• while workforce targets change, citizenship targets are more stable and include sustainability, system thinking,
• value of being in a group of common interest -- big family; great climate;
  
• we have a good sense of humor - this should be working for us in class
• For next year:
• spatial reasoning/field education
• quantitative learning/math anxiety
• designing the use of time in your course management/timing/length /hybrid
• place based education
• guidance on cross disciplinary collaboration (out of science)
• time (in geo/bio/history)
• Pluto in context of how icy worlds should look was wrong
• case study applying GER -- more on research methods -- clinic, working with the actual data
• focus/program for future faculty to be better educators
• technology petting zoo
• models for professional development for fauclty and K-12 teachers
• opportunities to go in field
• sessions that bring us back together to report on what we did as a result of what we learned next year
  

• teacher prep
• program design/outcomes