Scientific Ocean Drilling

Please feel free to continue discussion or add your thoughts on this question here

This was part of our discussion with Sharon (group 2 in the breakout rooms), but upon reviewing the "For Educators" resources on the JRSO website, I would argue it needs restructuring/reorganization. As it currently stands, it is not very useful/accessible to the educator who is looking to incorporate ocean drilling science into their lesson plan but does not know where to start or how to effectively use the resources available. I also found that a lot of the teaching kits highlight science done on specific expeditions, but not other shipboard operations. This goes back to part of our larger group discussion about the only career path being highlighted tends to be that of a PhD researcher, which is very much not the only career path in ocean drilling. We need to highlight the engineering and IT roles and activities more. Expanding some of the educational materials to reflect this would help us tackle questions 1 and 2 from today simultaneously!

From Twitter: We really need more of the replica cores for classroom use. The last 2 times I've requested them, all but 1 were already loaned out. Also the PETM replica has been out of service/broken for several years (since at least 2018).

Yes, agreed. We could use some more core replicas - but the lending out program definitely requires more resources as the paperwork and logistics is time-consuming. Something to consider for future. . .

Hi Danielle - I would be interested to hear your specific recommendations on how to reorganize. We have done this several times in collaboration with a group of educators who advised us. So the resources are now searchable by activity types, topics and grade level, in addition to "hot topics" here: https://joidesresolution.org/for-educators/classroom-activities/. We are open to suggestions!

This is sort of an aside, but I've been thinking a lot about it since the breakout session on Monday. There was an awful lot of focus in our session by a few people on their perceived failings or areas of lack of the Onboard Outreach program. This was combined with a lack of understanding of the program, how Outreach Officers are chosen and why, how our duties and time are structured before, during, and after the cruise, the various duties we have to achieve in each shift, and how we go about producing educational products. There was some intimation that OOO's don't communicate sufficiently with the scientists onboard to translate the science in a way that is useful or cohesive and that the outcomes aren't clear and products (while nice) are not that useful. For one person, at least, these complaints were in part directly related to social media--that it wasn't telling a cohesive story of the science throughout the expedition. While some of the discussion left me feeling (quite) frustrated, I did think it pointed to some problems with the way social media has been handled in the past and to wider issues with aspects and constraints of the program that make a lot of sense to me. I agree we do need to consistently tell more of a story from start to finish in a way that educators can use. However, a huge part of the problem is that every new outreach officer, despite the really excellent pre-cruise training session, is still doing this very intense and busy job for the first time on the spot and learning about the science along the way. I agree that the output from some expeditions has been lacking cohesion and through-line storytelling. I will reiterate that, in my opinion, it would make a big difference if one experienced and multi-skilled outreach officer was every cruise to make sure that the educational goals and outcomes are achieved. After all, this is the case with every other role onboard the ship. With a different situation for outreach, of course there will be inadequacies simply because someone is traveling a steep learning curve. If this were the case, any additional new outreach officer (and yes there really should be two on each cruise) can learn along the way and add new creative talent plus the opportunity to engage an even wider audience. I will say again that more emphasis needs to be placed on training scientists aboard in creating engaging messaging, with outreach and social media training offered (and expected to be attended) early on each cruise. I agree with Danielle's note about restructuring the website and making it more useful. I think curriculum development to accompany outreach products would also be helpful. (This is something we do in the kid-lit world, so that educators have an additional resource that delves deeper into the topic. See my publisher for some examples: http://weboflifebooks.com/curricula/ Clearly, these are for elementary age, but curricula could be developed for other audiences.) I have many more thoughts. Yes, I understand there are budget constraints, but without adequate outreach (especially in this uneducated and anti-science era), who's going to care about ocean drilling or have the foggiest idea what it is, why it matters, and why it needs to be funded?