Geosciences

Students at Bariboo, WI, field site

Organizations

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers has a professional division for two-year college faculty within the organization alongside the regional sections. NAGT is also working with the PIs of the Geoscience in Two-Year Colleges project to provide website resource for geoscience faculty at two-year colleges.

Meetings

The Role of Two-Year Colleges in Geoscience Education and in Broadening Participation in the Geosciences: A Planning Workshop - This planning workshop was held June 24-27, 2010 at Northern Virginia Community College. The workshop brought together faculty from two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and representatives from professional societies and organizations to learn more about geoscience in 2YC and their potential for increasing diversity in the geosciences and to discuss how to best support this important community.

Both the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union are host to events for two-year college faculty.

Discussions

The Geosciences in Two-Year Colleges web site hosts both a discussion board as well as a discussion email list that those interested in 2yc issues can join and take part in.

Resources

On the Cutting Edge - Geoscience Faculty Professional Development: On the Cutting Edge puts on a number of face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid workshops each year to help college and university faculty stay abreast of content and pedagogy and to help geoscience graduate students and post-docs to begin navigating their academic career.

Courses Profiles: The Building Strong Geoscience Departments program has collected a number of courses profiles from departments across the country including several from two-year colleges. These profiles describe a courses (degree program or concentration) in the department that faculty there think is particularly effective.

The Teach the Earth portal has a SiteGuide for Two-Year College Instructors that points to collections of teaching activities and course descriptions as well as professional development and content resources available from projects contributing to the portal.

Perspectives

A collection of Essays by two-year college faculty or addressing issues facing two-year college educators is available at the Geoscience in Two-Year Colleges website.

Presentations from the 2010 Planning Workshop address a number of important topics in two-year college education.

Awards

NAGT awards professional development grants each year to two-year college faculty, students, and K12 teachers. The Dottie Stout Professional Development Grants provide up to three $750 awards each year (one in each of the categories). Two-year college faculty are eligible and encouraged to apply for other awards programs run annually by NAGT as well.