Initial Publication Date: November 2, 2012

InTeGrate Materials Development Effort

InTeGrate is seeking team members to author, test, revise and publish model courses and modular teaching materials for use in a variety of undergraduate-level programs in order to support broad development of geoscience literacy. Learn more about the creation of teaching materials and the Materials Development and Refinement Rubric, and other assessment data.

You may apply for this opportunity as an individual, as part of a partial team, or as a complete three-person pre-formed team. We encourage applications from authors at all types of institutions including two-year colleges and minority serving institutions. Team members need not be members of geoscience departments but must be teaching a suitable course in which they agree to test materials. This can be a traditional, on-line or hybrid course. Consideration will also be given to establishing diverse teams involving faculty from a variety of institution types, working in multiple instructional settings, and representing diverse scientific and ethnic backgrounds.

Materials Address the Goals of the InTeGrate Project

Materials development provides a unique opportunity to create materials for use in a variety of undergraduate-level programs in order to support broad development of geoscience literacy that address the five common elements of InTeGrate teaching materials:

Connect geoscience to grand challenges facing society
Develop students' ability to address interdisciplinary problems
Improve student understanding of the nature and methods of geoscience and developing geoscientific habits of mind
Make use of authentic and credible geoscience data
Foster systems thinking

Course or Module?

Some materials development teams work to create a module which is a portion of a course that takes approximately two weeks of instructional time to implement. Other teams design the sequence of an entire course. You will need to decide whether you are proposing to develop a module or a course at the time of submitting a proposal to InTeGrate. Please read more about the similarities and differences between courses and modules to help you make your decision.

The Materials Development Process

As teams develop materials, there is a specific process to follow to be sure that materials continue to address all the goals of the InTeGrate project. Materials development is a three-phase process taking approximately two years to complete involving several checks to ensure materials are in line with project expectations. Materials Development teams are supported by a team leader, an assessment team member, and a webteam liaison as they author materials.

In the three-phase process, materials development teams work together to create materials for the module or course and then implement the materials individually in their own classes. Materials authors collect data on student learning during the term in which the materials are implemented. The materials development team uses data collected during implementation of materials to guide the team toward meaningful revisions of the materials. By the end of the process, the team's materials become live web pages that other faculty may access and implement in their own classes.

Read the details of the materials development process.

Expectations and Payment Information

Materials developers will be paid $15,000 for their work to create high quality materials that will be openly shared with other faculty. There are several expectations that materials developers must meet in order to receive payment for their work including attending annual meetings, creating materials that meet the expectations of the InTeGrate project, and working collaboratively within teams. Read more about expectations and payment