Creating a Positive Classroom Climate

Moderator: Natalie Bursztyn, Quest University

Tuesday, July 13 | 1:15-2:00pm PT / 2:15-3:00pm MT / 3:15-4:00pm CT / 4:15-5:00pm ET

Whether we are in person, online, or hybrid - the energy of the classroom space is critical in driving student engagement and determining student success. How do we build a sense of community in a lecture hall, through classroom management software, or on Zoom? How do we make it a collaborative and positive space for learning? At this round-table we will discuss ideas, experiences, and troubleshoot together.

Managing Stress in Graduate School

Moderators: Wayana Dolan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Annie Klyce, University of South Carolina-Columbia

Tuesday, July 13 | 1:15-2:00pm PT / 2:15-3:00pm MT / 3:15-4:00pm CT / 4:15-5:00pm ET

Graduate students face a unique challenge in balancing their roles as students, teachers, researchers and human beings. With the addition of new external challenges such as remote working, zoom fatigue, political unrest and anxiety over COVID-19, graduate students are facing a perfect storm of stress-triggers. During this roundtable will discuss a variety of stress-tackling topics including time management, work-life balance, self-care, mental health, communication strategies and mechanisms to cope with rapidly changing routines.

Rethinking Course Assessment – Measuring Development of Expertise

Moderator: Virginia Isava, Stanford University

Tuesday, July 13 | 1:15-2:00pm PT / 2:15-3:00pm MT / 3:15-4:00pm CT / 4:15-5:00pm ET

This roundtable is designed to develop new ideas and collaborations to measure the development of expert thinking and decision-making in earth science classrooms. This will include a discussion of different purposes for assessment, as well as differences between expert and novice decision-making and ideas on how to best translate those differences into assessments. Participants will also have the chance to work together to brainstorm possible assessment topics in the field of earth science.

Fostering Sustainable Institutions: Engaging Our Universities in the Movement for Change

Moderators: Kelsey Bitting, Elon University, Chelsie Romulo, University of Northern Colorado, Robert Turner, University of Washington-Tacoma Campus, and Scott Werts, Winthrop University

Tuesday, July 13 | 1:15-2:00pm PT / 2:15-3:00pm MT / 3:15-4:00pm CT / 4:15-5:00pm ETEvents of the past year and a half have highlighted, in many ways, that the socio-economic systems of our globalized culture are not sustainable. Education has always been at the forefront of catalyzing change and shaping society: How can we now foster universities that live up to their potential in charting a new course forward, away from our trajectory of continuing environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, earth system instability, social inequity, autocratization, insecurity, and injustice? In this round-table session, we will share experiences and lessons learned in attempting to broadly engage higher education leadership in these crucial conversations and brainstorm approaches toward capturing university leaders' attention and encouraging momentum toward sustainability.

Instructor and Student Toolkit for Movement and Safety in the Field

Moderators: Avery Shinneman, University of Washington-Bothell Campus and Lyra Pierotti, BC Adventure Guides

Tuesday, July 13 | 1:15-2:00pm PT / 2:15-3:00pm MT / 3:15-4:00pm CT / 4:15-5:00pm ET

Ready to get back outside?! If you take students into the field, especially at introductory levels, you likely have been the leader and guide for a student taking their first steps off-trail or experiencing new ways of moving – on steep, slippery, or uneven surfaces; in wet, windy, or icy conditions.

Some students choose field trips because they love the outdoors, but many arrive without background experience in camping, hiking, or even walking off-trail; if you've ever had an introductory student tell you that a field trip is the first time they've been out of the city, what did you do or say to gauge their comfort and safety?When you see students struggling on steep or uneven slopes, or in tough terrain, how do you support their learning to move safely in these outdoor spaces?

Join us for a dynamic and movement-filled round table to learn some small movement activities to support students as they explore new terrain and discuss ways to support and scaffold their growth in the outdoors.

Ball-bearing Chromatography

Moderators: Cynthia Connolly, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and Talon Newton, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

Chromatography is a powerful analytical tool that uses properties such as mass, ionic charge, and size to identify components in mixtures. We will present a chromatography lab using easily-sourced materials such as ball bearings and a (free) phone recording app. With these devices, students can create a calibration curve of ball bearings of known mass to identify a group of ball bearings of unknown mass. We encourage discussion about the ball bearing chromatography activity including modifications, improvements and how you could use this activity in your classroom.

Teaching Real Science in Physical and Digital Classrooms

Moderator: Lev Horodyskyj, Science Voices

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

What is real science and how do we teach it in our classrooms? We often teach facts in lectures and develop labs that teach lab/field methodology and report writing. But the essence of science lies in the critical thinking processes that allow us to move from observations to satisfactory explanations for those observations which can happen in any context. We will discuss the critical components of scientific thinking and how courses can be restructured so that students both learn and practice those skills regardless of the topics and format that our science classes take.

Beyond Content: Roles of Geoscientists in Preparing Pre-Service Earth Science Teachers

Moderator: James Ebert, SUNY College at Oneonta

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

Majors in Earth Science education learn their content in geoscience departments and pedagogy in departments or schools of education and seldom the twain shall meet. How can geoscientists help in best preparing pre-service Earth Science teachers for success in classroom, lab, field, and virtual environments? What can we do to develop pre-service teachers' facility with the "three-dimensional teaching" inherent in the Next Generation Science Standards? Come to this round table discussion to share current practices and new ideas for preparing and mentoring the pre-service teachers who will inspire middle and high school students to become majors in our departments.

Building Online Geoscience Textbooks

Moderator: Joshua Halpern, LibreTexts

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

A discussion about building and using online geoscience textbooks, how to get involved, who can help and how students react.

NAGT Advocacy Committee - What We Do and How You Can Join

Moderator: Suzanne Traub-Metlay, Western Governors University

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

Advocating for geoscience education involves being aware of issues affecting K-16 Earth Sciences instruction and, in a collaborative effort, speaking up to safeguard or advance learner access to accurate, rigorous, meaningful teaching. The Advocacy Committee is currently engaged in reviewing and updating NAGT's position statements. We monitor and address emergent issues ranging from international climate policy to local school board initiatives that affect public school curriculum in Earth Sciences. Come talk with Advocacy Committee members and consider how you can support students, educators, and schools who care about robust learning in geosciences.

Community-Driven Field Geology Online

Moderators: Katherine Ryker, University of South Carolina-Columbia and Kurtis Burmeister, University of the Pacific

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

Geology programs across the country use field camps as capstone experiences in which majors apply what they have learned throughout their degree in a field setting, often for 5-6 weeks at a time. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced educators everywhere to innovate for 2020 and now 2021. Join this roundtable discussion to discuss ideas and resources for teaching field geology online. Leaders will showcase work done in 2020 by more than 350 geoscience educators, and share how students assessed their own learning in these virtual camps.

Teaching Water Conservation with the Water Footprint Calculator

Moderators: GRACE Communications Foundation and Kai Olson-Sawyer, GRACE Communications Foundation

Friday, July 16 | 12:00-1:45pm PT / 1:00-2:45pm MT / 2:00-3:45pm CT / 3:00-4:45pm ET

Teaching about water usually means teaching about the water cycle but this leaves out the ways that water is connected to the production of food, energy and consumer goods.In this discussion, we will explore the more comprehensive concept of a "water footprint": how people use water and how educators can help students calculate their water footprints. We will also discuss ideas and resources for how to teach these concepts that can sometimes be abstract.