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(COSEE): The Report of a Workshop Sponsored by the National Science Foundation In Cooperation with The University of Southern Mississippi,
Institute of Marine Sciences May 23-26, 2000 Conference Location: USM—Gulf Park, Long Beach, MS
BackgroundGuidelines for Reading the Recommendations Recommendations by Educational Sector Informal Ocean Sciences EducationRecommendations by Educational Threads A Portal for Ocean Sciences Education and Professional DevelopmentSome Pervasive Concerns Appendix 1. Audiences From Which COSEE Participants Were Selected The reform of science education during the past decade has called for the sciences to step forward with innovative pedagogy, particularly the integration of research and education. The Ocean Sciences community did not answer the call, even though their discovery that the ocean was a more critical driving force in the natural environment than previously thought possessed great educational significance. At the same time, the change in the nature of scientific problems toward more interdisciplinary formulations called for such naturally interdisciplinary sciences as the Ocean Sciences to step forward with new integrative concepts for teaching science. Once again, the Ocean Sciences community did not answer the call, even though they integrate the scientific study of almost three-fourths of the Earth’s surface. Rich opportunities have been missed to provide the nation with high-quality education for all and to bring national attention to the role of the ocean in the quality of life, the economic development of the nation, and the national defense. A workshop held on May 23-26, 2000, was charged to recommend strategies by which the National Science Foundation (NSF) could develop a nationally coordinated effort to address this problem and improve and promote Ocean Sciences education for the benefit of society. The collective recommendation of theworkshop participants is for the establishment of a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) as a nationally coordinated program for Ocean Sciences education in both formal and informal educational sectors. The workshop further recommends that COSEE consist of regional centers and:
The need for scientists to work with educators to enhance the general public’s understanding of science has been promulgated for years in reports such as Science for All Americans and NSF in a Changing World. More recently, reports such as that by the Cabinet to the President of the United States, Turning to the Sea: America’s Ocean Future, have stressed the need for ocean scientists and educators to improve the general public’s understanding of the ocean and its role in their lives. To meet this challenge for informal education, COSEE should utilize the network ability of informal science institutions, such as aquariums, museums, zoos, and the National Estuarine Research Reserves, National Parks, and National Marine Sanctuaries, to enhance the Ocean Sciences literacy of the general public. This ability has been proven; COSEE coordination could supply added value. Although formal educational institutions also work to improve science literacy, the informal institutions are more neutral and non-threatening locations to the general public than are formal educational institutions, and they provide lifelong learning opportunities not always available through formal educational institutions. The reform of science education has centered on grades K-12. The National Science Education Standards (NSES) provide the criteria for achieving the desired science literacy for all students. Yet, the Ocean Sciences are not represented in the examples of lessons and teachers in the NSES, even though one-half the population of the nation lives in the coastal zone. The Ocean Sciences are represented, however, in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Benchmarks for Science Literacy, which is aligned with the content standards of the NSES. COSEE should assist teachers in involving students in the excitement of Ocean Sciences learning and discovery by assessing the availability of ocean research-based curricular materials, identifying exemplary materials aligned with the NSES and the Benchmarks, and ensuring they are available to teachers. Professional development programs in the use of these resources are likewise needed, as is the investigation of teaching and learning in integrated sciences such as the Ocean Sciences. COSEE should take the lead in infusing Ocean Sciences into high school curricula as a reality-based form of the integrated learning so important in achieving lifelong learning. Before encouraging new educational contributions, however, COSEE must inventory the contributions of existing Ocean Sciences outreach programs, for example, those sponsored by NASA, the National Sea Grant Program and its state programs, other programs within NOAA such as the National Estuarine Research Reserves and the National Marine Sanctuaries, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), and the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. COSEE must also identify other existing funding sources for outreach programs, beginning with the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR) and the Directorate for Geosciences (NSF/GEO). COSEE’s efforts must also reach outside the classroom to assist teachers in combating students’ disengagement from science by providing connections to appropriate role models, mentors, researchers, and career information. COSEE should particularly foster linkages between the Ocean Sciences and traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups in science by assisting educators in providing services to them through social service agencies, community-based organizations, and informal education institutions. The coordination of informal and formal educators, which COSEE could facilitate, provides one of the richest sources for connecting with these populations. At the undergraduate level, as in K-12 education, there is a demand for high-quality educational materials that COSEE could promote by coordinating the collaboration of researchers and educators, as NASA has done so successfully. There is also a need for faculty professional development in the use of these materials, in the use of innovative pedagogical methods, and in the use of instructional technology. The workshop endorses the urgent recommendations in the report Shaping the Future and urges COSEE to cultivate the interest of the Ocean Sciences community in the funding programs available through the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (NSF/DUE) and NSF/GEO to implement some of these recommendations. The transition to undergraduate education should be seamless; a better understanding of how students learn integrated sciences would improve it. Ethnographic research reports that too many undergraduate students lose interest in science because of poor teaching. Poor quality is one of the deleterious effects on teaching that result from the far lower faculty (and graduate student) rewards for teaching than for research. COSEE should collaborate with higher education organizations to enhance the value of teaching in higher education. Indeed, COSEE could serve as a national forum on this and other issues in undergraduate education in the Ocean Sciences, including curricular issues, courses for preservice teachers, core competencies, continuing-education linkages among faculties at two-year and four-year colleges and universities, and recruitment and retention of traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups. The training of everyone who teaches Ocean Sciences must be improved, not only the undergraduate faculty previously mentioned, but preservice and inservice teachers as well. Appropriate incentives should be established for the collaboration between faculties of Education and Ocean Sciences so the preparation of preservice teachers ensures that they graduate with sound Ocean Sciences content knowledge and instructional strategies, including field and laboratory experience. These future teachers will be part of the two million new teachers needed nationally in this decade. Similar faculty teams should design teacher enhancement/professional development programs for inservice teachers that span several years as research-based, technical assistance pathways. Professional development opportunities should also be offered for school and district administrators as critical support for the COSEE teachers at the regional level. A few funded programs in support of these goals already exist in NSF/EHR. Encouraging Ocean Sciences researchers to consider the educational value of their results, even when that value may be rated low by their research colleagues, and then providing them with access to educational collaborators is a major challenge. COSEE could provide the forum for scientists, educators, the media, policy makers, and community leaders to bring the excitement of discovery and the process of research in the Ocean Sciences to students and the public, which in turn could enhance public support for Ocean Sciences research on a national level. These collaborations would be strengthened if scientists understand the needs of educators and together they select appropriate data and transform them into useful products. The NASA NOVA Program is one model. During this process, educators learn both the content and context of scientific information, and the research results are more accurately infused into the curricula. The emphasis should be the production of exemplary material. Whatever the information technology used, there is a recognized need for facilitation in access to the technology, funding for the required capabilities, changes in technology, and coordination with digital libraries. Ocean scientists and educators need an infrastructure to encourage and facilitate interactions among themselves, and with other groups, as a critical first step in attaining excellence in Ocean Sciences education. The workshop endorses the emphasis on such collaborations and partnerships in other national reports, such as NSF in a Changing World, the NSF strategic plan. COSEE should play a vital role in arranging these interactions. For example, in developing new educational resources based on research data, COSEE could identify critical topics and organize workshops for the collaboration of scientists and educators on these topics. COSEE should be expected both to organize collaborations with the media to advocate Ocean Sciences and to form linkages with the media to supply resources for news events. Liaisons should be maintained with the large Ocean Sciences research programs, the Federal agencies that have educational outreach programs, congressional staff members and policy makers, and particularly with the cultural leaders of underrepresented groups. Within the traditionally underrepresented groups in the Ocean Sciences, women have made great strides in the last twenty years and account for the majority of undergraduate majors and graduate students in many institutions. Nevertheless, COSEE should collaborate with established organizations to enhance the professional growth and advancement of women in the Ocean Sciences. The near absence of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders in the Ocean Sciences is in stark contrast to the relative success of women and must be corrected in order to bring fresh perspectives and new talents into the study of the Ocean Sciences. This goal is a national priority with separate programs already existing through NSF/GEO, the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF/OCE), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Even so, more effort and better coordination among current efforts are needed. These students could be introduced to aquatic systems early in their schooling and be able to enter programs that will keep them from disengaging from science. Informal learning experiences to expose these students to appropriate role models and ocean scientists could be incorporated into these programs. Students at all levels should be encouraged to share their accomplishments with the local community, particularly a local minority community, and a special COSEE Minority Ph.D. Program should address the lack of minority students in Ocean Sciences graduate education. Internships are popular with all students because internships place students closer to the real world of the subject than is possible in the classroom. Several organizations offer existing Ocean Sciences internships, Sea Grant being but one. Internship opportunities in the COSEE program, however, should be broader. They could extend from middle school to graduate education, and be particularly targeted at community colleges and minority-serving institutions, where access to research experiences and laboratory equipment is limited. In addition, teachers, faculty at small colleges, government employees, and other Ocean Sciences personnel who wish to increase their understanding of the Ocean Sciences or improve their capabilities can benefit from internships. Not all internships should be research-based. Internships can also provide experience in a particular work environment, such as an aquarium, museum, science center, or governmental agency. Career information, in addition to internships, should be integrated into the entire educational program, across all sectors. Even so, the nature of the information or the manner of its delivery can be expected to vary with the level of education. Whether the issue is internships or other career information, COSEE should promote the needed incentives for faculty participation in these programs. Evaluation of each of the educational initiatives undertaken by COSEE should be a high priority. This evaluation could provide COSEE with a unique opportunity. COSEE could formulate strategies to address problematic issues of evaluation across all science education, not just Ocean Sciences education. In this manner, it could then take a leading role in reviewing, developing, implementing, and refining high-quality, flexible, and testable evaluation tools by using the integration of Ocean Sciences research and education as a case study. The results of this case study could be used by the science education community at large. Thus, through COSEE, the NSF could lead and redefine evaluation standards of excellence for all research-education initiatives in the sciences. Although the organizational structure
of COSEE was not a topic for discussion at the beginning of the workshop, a
possible organizational structure had evolved by the conclusion of the workshop.
The consensus was that COSEE should consist, at least in part, of Regional
Centers, distributed across the U.S. and formed by consortia representing as
many educational sectors of the Ocean Sciences as possible. Several advantages
for ease of public access favor the location of Regional Centers at informal
education sites and in sites among large populations of traditionally
underrepresented groups. By being regional, these "Ocean Sciences Learning
Communities" could more easily leverage resources available at this operational
level. Additional benefits were noted for having a small, central office in
Washington, D.C., that could maintain liaisons with NSF and other Federal
agencies and provide national coordination for the Regional Centers. The
advisory boards for COSEE, whether regional or national, should represent as
many stakeholders as possible. Above all, COSEE must be a unifier of the Ocean
Sciences education and research communities. It can provide external credibility
to local educational programs in all education sectors. It must strive to ensure
a seamless continuation of lifelong learning from preschool informal education,
through kindergarten to graduate school, and throughout adult informal
education. Its efforts must include creating a "sense of ownership" to foster
change in all the sectors of Ocean Sciences education from its beginning so that
it will be deemed relevant by all sectors, thereby alleviating the segmentation
that has impaired the effectiveness of Ocean Sciences education during the last
decade of the 20th century. During the last decade of the 20th century, science education in the United States underwent the first changes in a major reform, following recommendations in national reports such as The Benchmarks for Science Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993), National Science Education Standards (NSES) (National Research Council, 1996a), and Shaping the Future (National Science Foundation, 1996). These changes are continuing and are, by now, familiar to educators from kindergarten to graduate school, at least by name: inquiry-based learning rather than passive learning, integration of scientific research and education, understanding interconnecting themes rather than isolated content, learning with new technology, and other similar advances. The Ocean Sciences would seem to have been a natural choice to lead this reform. After all, whether referred to in the plural as Ocean Sciences and "multidisciplinary" or in the singular as Ocean Science and "interdisciplinary," the science of the ocean is very broad, touching on all of the traditional scientific disciplines. This characteristic fits the statement about teaching science that "Science should be considered as intrinsically multi-disciplinary" (National Research Council, 1997). The Ocean Sciences can thus overcome the disadvantage attributed to the disciplinary sciences that "…their divisions do not necessarily match the way the world works, and they can make communication difficult" (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990a, p. 9). It is the Ocean Sciences, rather than science in general, that could have been the subject for the educational guideline in the NSES that "Curricula often will integrate topics from different subject-matter areas…" (National Research Council, 1996a, p. 23). The intrinsic human interest in the ocean that is expressed in various creative human activities, from art to literature to navigation, should readily enable a teacher to implement the directive that "Science should be integrated with other areas of the curriculum" (Natural Science Resource Center, 1997, p. 68). Ocean Sciences research into the underwater realm of popular mystery, as well as the scientific unknown, should provide entry for students at all levels into compelling inquiry-based education, as the JASON Project (See Appendix 8 for description) has demonstrated. In addition, "The exciting thing about the ocean is that its science is virtually all [italics in the original] relevant to societal needs—quality of life, economic development, national security, education…." (Watkins, 2000, p. 214). Yet, in spite of all the advantages for leadership that one can identify for the Ocean Sciences, they have not been in the forefront of science education reform, in any education sector: informal, K-12, undergraduate, or graduate. Indeed, "Oceanography as a field has missed out on the chance to lead the burgeoning interest in interdisciplinary education even though oceanography is inherently interdisciplinary" (Nowell, 2000, p. 198). Opportunities were lost. The interdisciplinary character of the Ocean Sciences has been more of a weakness than the strength it should have been in education. People teaching Ocean Sciences have had no common forum for the exchange of experience, ideas, and educational materials. Most Ocean Sciences teachers in K-12, unlike teachers of biology and physics, did not major in the science they teach and thus lack the biologist’s or physicist’s professional connections to, and understanding of, the science taught. In fact, the K-12 teachers, and informal educators, may choose to join the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA), whereas Ocean Sciences faculty in higher education are more likely to join the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). Worse, while a marine geologist or geophysicist may publish, read, or secure teaching resources from the Journal of Geoscience Education, the chemical oceanographer will turn to the Journal of Chemical Education. Until very recently the biological oceanographer has not had a research reason to attend a meeting, let alone an educational session on integrating research and education, of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), nor the marine geophysicist a meeting of biological oceanographers at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). The interdisciplinary strength of the Ocean Sciences in research has not carried over into education. Further segmentation of the Ocean Sciences is demonstrated by the established network of informal education institutions, such as aquariums, museums, science centers, and marine laboratories that are so important to Ocean Sciences education. The educational efforts of these institutions represent the primary contact of Ocean Sciences with the public, but the efforts are noticed little, if at all, by researchers, who are removed from these efforts. In addition, any research scientist who wishes to begin sharing his or her research results with the public or students has no obvious organization or office to approach for guidance or assistance in this unfamiliar task, which itself will likely not be encouraged or accorded high value by research colleagues. Moreover, the location of some of the major Ocean Sciences research institutes away from university campuses has distanced their researchers from changing pedagogical concepts in the classroom. The location of ocean scientists has another drawback. For unlike the wide geographic distribution of researchers in most other scientific disciplines, the location of most Ocean Sciences researchers in coastal states renders them largely inaccessible to teachers in non-coastal states, which represent approximately forty percent of the U.S. The Ocean Sciences lack a coordinated effort in education. Even when well-planned attempts have been made at coordinating Ocean Sciences activities, as through the admirable National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), the results have not covered all the sectors of Ocean Sciences education. (It should be noted that there indeed are individuals in all Ocean Sciences education sectors who are bringing change to their learning environments, but to paraphrase a report from the National Research Council (1996b, p. 6), "[Ocean Sciences] education will not change in a permanent way through the efforts of ‘Lone Rangers’.") Some of the deleterious results of the present condition in Ocean Sciences education are: (1) the results of Ocean Sciences research are not readily available for use in informal or formal education, either to engage the innate human interest in the sea for the study of science or the environment or as a context for the study of basic scientific principles; (2) the imagination of precollege students is not captured to engage them in a lifetime of experiential science learning; (3) arresting images of the effects of ocean processes on the climate, coastal land use, or other aspects of the quality of life are not routinely made available for use in instructing students or the public on rational decision-making about the ocean environment; (4) the Ocean Sciences do not appear as case studies in such education guidebooks as The Liberal Art of Science: Agenda for Action (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990b) or Science Teaching Reconsidered: A Handbook (National Research Council, 1997); (5) the Ocean Sciences are not used in examples of lessons or teachers in the NSES, even though forty percent of the U.S. population lives in the coastal zone; (6) the naturally integrated Ocean Sciences are neither proposing new integrative concepts for teaching science nor investigating how students learn integrated sciences, and (7) of all the sciences, the Ocean Sciences have exerted the least effort to improve education through the support of the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (NSF/DUE). Perhaps the greatest opportunity lost by the Ocean Sciences has been to use the results of Ocean Sciences research to develop new concepts of science content for teaching science. Consider this: even though the ocean was already considered a natural system in the classic textbook, The Oceans, in 1942, and even though in the 1970s the theory of plate tectonics, as developed from studies of geomagnetism in the ocean basin, revolutionized our thinking of the Earth as a whole system, and even though the exciting and enlightening research in Ocean Sciences since then could have led to a systems-based paradigm for teaching Earth science, the opportunity was missed. Instead, in the early 1990s, a committee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including some ocean scientists and using the results of space research, conceived of "Earth System Science" (ESS) asan approach to the interdisciplinary study of the natural science and human dimension of the Earth. In Earth System Science the Earth is studied as a system undergoing global change due to both Earth-generated and human-generated processes and for which much of the research data is derived from the remote sensing of parameters of the present-day environment. The teaching of Earth System Science has increased in undergraduate science departments in the nation over the past ten years and is now being introduced into secondary education. It is a systems framework to teach Earth science, including the atmosphere, the solid Earth, and the oceans. The number of baccalaureate degree programs in Earth System Science is increasing. Recommendations that "The future for oceanography [baccalaureate programs] may lie in much stronger linkages to other geosciences…" (Nowell, 2000, p. 199) may be interpreted as a call for the elimination of oceanography programs. The absence of undergraduate degree programs would diminish the strength of Ocean Sciences education. "The undergraduate level plays a pivotal role. It is the conduit through which research can reach the Nation’s schools" (National Science Foundation, 1995, p. 29). The Ocean Sciences missed the opportunity to develop a systems-based study of the Earth because there was no coordination of Ocean Sciences education. What other educational opportunities lie concealed in the fascinating, integrative results of Ocean Sciences research? What might their discovery enable students and the public to understand better about the ocean? The better society understands the ocean, the better off the nation is. As the Report on the Interagency Partnership Initiative states: "Whether from the perspective of national security or quality of life one can argue that the US’ advanced understanding of the oceans has been central to our stature as a world leader throughout most of this century" (Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, 1996, p. ii). Research in the Ocean Sciences provides many opportunities to bring the excitement of discovery and the process of scientific research to students and the general public. Today is a time of renewed interest in the sustainability of our "water planet" and a time when humankind is faced with vital decisions about the use of our marine and coastal environments. Yet, ocean scientists have failed to integrate their research activities successfully into the education process, and an opportunity has been missed to engage students and the general public in the Ocean Sciences. The Ocean Sciences community continues to miss opportunities available for funding educational projects. Numerous programs exist that could fund some of the recommendations in this report, such as the programs in the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (NSF/GEO), Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR), and the NSF Crosscutting Programs, but the Ocean Sciences community does not submit enough excellent proposals to these programs to improve the quality of Ocean Sciences education. All these missed opportunities can be
summarized thusly: the Ocean Sciences do not have a nationally coordinated
education program to enable them to meet the goals of achieving education
excellence in all sectors and promoting the integration and dissemination of new
knowledge for the benefit of society. Meeting these goals is crucial to the
health of the Ocean Sciences and to the well-being of society. A workshop was
conducted on May 23-26, 2000, by The University of Southern Mississippi’s
Institute of Marine Sciences at the USM-Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach,
Mississippi, to recommend strategies by which the NSF could develop a nationally
coordinated effort to meet these goals. The charge to the workshop was: "to create a document that recommends strategies for the National Science Foundation and other Federal agencies to use in a nationally coordinated effort to improve and promote Ocean Sciences education in response to the opportunities identified by this workshop." The objectives of the workshop were: (Graduate education was not considered specifically because NSF already provides significant support through science grants for graduate students to participate in research. Nevertheless, some recommendations responding to the national call for broader graduate education are offered in Appendix 5.) On March 3, 2000, the Co-Chairs and the Steering Committee met with staff from the National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA. Background information was provided by NSF representatives from the Division of Ocean Sciences; the Division of Undergraduate Education; the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education; and the Directorate of Geosciences. The main objectives of the meeting were to determine the audiences from which the participants of the workshop would be invited (Appendix 1) and to formulate the guiding questions for the workshop (listed below). The workshop began on the evening of May 22 with a reception and dinner at the Gulf Park Campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Long Beach, MS. (The agenda is in Appendix 2.) Seventy-three participants, and some invited observers, attended. The participants represented informal, K-12, and undergraduate Ocean Sciences education and Ocean Sciences research. (A list of participants is in Appendix 3.) On the morning of May 23, Dr. G. Michael Purdy, Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences, introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Margaret S. Leinen, Assistant Director of the NSF, Directorate for Geosciences. Dr. Leinen stressed the need for the workshop to provide the leadership that would assist NSF in developing Ocean Sciences education excellence. She also made clear the challenges for Ocean Sciences education, including the general lack of understanding of science by non-scientists, the difficulty of teaching such a highly interdisciplinary science, and the existence of a very large portion of the nation that is not near, and hence lacks a practical interest in, the ocean. She stressed the challenge to increase diversity in the Ocean Sciences—a major challenge because there are fewer members of traditionally underrepresented groups in the Ocean Sciences than in any other science or engineering field. However, Dr. Leinen also pointed out opportunities to meet these challenges, such as by developing partnerships and using instructional technology with pedagogical creativity. After the charge to the panels, the participants met in seven panels of the Ocean Sciences education sectors to determine the needs and priorities of Ocean Sciences education for these stakeholders. The panels were: Informal Ocean Sciences Education, K-8 Ocean Sciences Education, Grades 9-12 Ocean Sciences Education, Undergraduate Ocean Sciences Education, Teacher Preparation and Teacher Enhancement/Professional Development, Ocean Sciences Research and Information Technology, and Education of Traditionally Underrepresented Groups. The Steering Committee facilitated the panels’ discussions and reported the panels’ findings to the entire group of workshop participants at the end of the day. The Co-Chairs and the Steering Committee then discussed the panel reports to identify "Common Threads" that were woven throughout conversations among all the panels. On May 24, Dr. Dorothy L. Stout, Program Director, NSF Division of Undergraduate Education, informed the workshop of the Division’s various funding programs for improving undergraduate education, many of which are prospective sources for funding recommendations in this report. Then a Likert scale evaluation was administered to ascertain participants opinions relative to the effectiveness of the workshop, and to obtain information in a manner timely enough to facilitate improving the workshop "mid-course." On a scale of 1, 2, or 3—with 3 being most positive—an average of 85% of all comments were most favorable, i.e., 3s. Of the remaining comments, 14% were at the mid-point, with an average of 1% below the midpoint. The items most responsible for the lower ratings were related to: (1) Time—participants frequently felt rushed, and wished to have additional time to discuss the issues at hand; and (2) Objectives—within the item relating to clarity of objectives, 24% of the respondents indicated a mid-point score, with 2% rating clarity of objectives at the lowest level (note: this 2% represents one response.) After this formative instrument was tallied, workshop facilitators rescheduled portions of the program to accommodate the need for additional discussion time, and introduced each "break out" session with a restatement of the program objectives. The participants were divided into seven "Common Thread" panels on the basis of threads identified in the panels’ reports of the day before: Collaborations, Linkages, and Liaisons; Ocean Sciences Education Portal; Evaluation/Validation; Training and Professional Development; Curriculum Development and Educational Materials; Careers; and Internships. The Steering Committee facilitated these panels and at noon reported to the entire group of workshop participants. The participants then returned to their original panels and used the information from the "Common Thread" panels to propose strategies that COSEE could use in addressing the opportunities provided by the earlier-determined needs. After the Steering Committee presented
final oral reports of their panels’ work to the entire group of workshop
participants the next morning, May 26, the workshop was adjourned. The Steering
Committee then began writing the reports of their panels' deliberations, which
continued until the afternoon of May 27. These reports were drafted by the
Co-Chairs into the workshop report, which was reviewed, first, by the Steering
Committee, and then by all the participants. Guiding Questions for the Workshop Discussions
The workshop recommendations are
presented in two sections. The first section, "Recommendations by Educational
Sector," are the recommendations for each sector of Ocean Sciences education:
Informal, K-8, Grades 9-12, Undergraduate, Teacher Preparation and Teacher
Enhancement/Professional Development (including undergraduate faculty), and
Ocean Sciences Research and Information Technology. The recommendations consist
of strategies for responding to the educational opportunities identified. The
second section of recommendations, "Recommendations by Educational Threads," are
recommendations that cross all sectors. A certain amount of redundancy is
included for continuity. A Glossary (Appendix 8) explains abbreviations and
certain other terms. The recommendations stem from the
consensus of the workshop participants that a Center for Ocean Sciences
Education Excellence (COSEE) should be established. Although the recommendations
are strategies for COSEE to consider, the organizational structure of COSEE was
not discussed in the full workshop until the final session. A summary of that
discussion is presented in Appendix 4. Informal Ocean Sciences Education Informal Education is the education of
the public, whether in institutions such as aquariums and museums, through the
news media, or at other public gatherings. The educational advantages held by
informal science education institutions are derived from their ability to reach
larger and more diverse audiences than any other category of educational
institutions. (More than two-thirds of all U.S. residents visit a museum,
aquarium, or zoo each year). These sites can attract both K-12 students, who
spend more time outside of school than they do inside of school, and the aging
population of the U.S., which has a growing interest in lifelong learning, the
environment, and experiential learning. Opportunity: To enhance the use of informal science institutions as a way to reach a larger and broader audience in more receptive ways than is possible with any category of formal education institutions. Stratgegy: COSEE should endorse the power of the
delivery network of the informal science institutions, enhance collaborations
with researchers and formal education institutions at all levels, and promote
adequate funding for these collaborative efforts. In grasping this opportunity,
COSEE should explore the resources available for informal education in the NSF
Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (NSF/ESIE). The
informal science institution network is a critically important element in
achieving COSEE’s goal of enhancing Ocean Sciences literacy of the public, but
it is only one element in what should be an integrated, coherent educational
system. Opportunity: To exploit the high public trust in informal science education organizations and their accessible, non-threatening, safe, neutral qualities to pursue COSEE’s goal of enhancing the Ocean Sciences literacy of the public. Strategy: COSEE could supplement and assist in
developing forums at informal Ocean Sciences education centers on topical issues
in the news, bringing together researchers, educators, the media, and
decision-makers to explore the issues and to identify and evaluate alternative
ways of dealing with them. Opportunity: To provide Ocean Sciences results and issues to the public on a timely basis in ways that are accurate, balanced, engaging, and educational. Strategy: COSEE should: (1) Offer scientific
expertise and content to assist informal science education organizations in the
creation of Rapid Response exhibits that are accurate, engaging and educational
and that can be distributed to a variety of venues (in addition to museums,
aquariums and zoos) that attract large numbers of people, for example, malls,
airports, train stations, and county and state fairs. These exhibits should be
created through collaborations of leading researchers, educators, and exhibit
designers. (2) Develop radio and TV spots through collaborations. (3) Educate
ocean scientists to "speak out" through media technology to audiences in a
variety of venues on a particular issue or discovery that is in the news, and
then facilitate connections between ocean scientists and the news media.
Opportunity: To share a rich and expanding array of Ocean Sciences educational opportunities with increasingly diverse and expanding communities around the nation. Strategy: COSEE should promote the creation and
development of a network of diverse Ocean Sciences educational institutions to
ensure that all opportunities are being exploited and needs met through
cooperation and collaboration among institutions and through the concentration
by an institution on those audiences it serves best. COSEE should also build
long-term relationships with different communities through community-based
organizations, faith-based organizations, and other groups, as
appropriate. Opportunity: To raise the awareness and appreciation of the richness and diversity of knowledge and personnel in the formal and informal Ocean Sciences education sectors and the Ocean Sciences research sector. Strategy: COSEE should: (1) Launch a
comprehensive and coherent public relations/marketing strategy, using the
informal science network as a major distribution system because it attracts so
many people each year. (2) Promote traditional and non-traditional careers in
the marine sciences and demonstrate how important a knowledge of the Ocean
Sciences can be in many fields, from law to medicine. (3) Bring Ocean Sciences
educators together on a topical basis to develop and deliver new, important,
timely programs in the Ocean Sciences. In grades K-8 children are filled with
a love of learning. They overflow with questions in search of answers. Science
is the most successful system ever devised by humans for answering questions
about the world around us. It can engage these students and bring the real world
into their lives. The excitement of the ocean and Ocean Sciences can be brought
into their classrooms and start them along the path toward understanding that
world. Opportunity: To involve students in the excitement of Ocean Sciences learning and discovery. Strategy: The depth, breadth, and richness of topics in Ocean Sciences allow teachers to cover learning objectives by addressing many student learning styles. The discipline itself affords students the opportunity to construct their own learning experiences, while also having the option of replicating the experiences of others. Providing hands-on experiences addresses all learning styles. Ocean Sciences is real, interesting, engaging, integrative, and relative, thus holding students’ attention and enabling them to benefit from authentic learning experiences. The basic value of the Ocean Sciences is that the ocean is vital and students will later be involved with it in some manner, directly as a professional related to the field or indirectly as a decision-making citizen. It is imperative to consider the Ocean Sciences as an entity that must be multidisciplinary, hands-on, and relevant, but also tied to the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks. COSEE should promote the correlation of materials and programs with the NSES and Benchmarks to drive the curriculum, thereby determining the scope and sequence. COSEE could align itself with efforts underway by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to develop an Atlas of Science Literacy that shows the knowledge and skills students need in order to achieve particular science literacy goals. COSEE could also recognize the deficiency in textbooks reported by AAAS. The focus should be on key concepts and their connection to each state’s standards. Using this approach, COSEE can help integrate the curriculum, make science relevant to daily life, and provide authentic and hands-on learning experiences. Thus, COSEE can help connect all people to the ocean in order for them to develop a sense of stewardship. Attaining this goal can cross into informal education. There are many existing K-8 (and K-12) camp style programs, such as SEACAMP, the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI), and SEA (the Sea Education Association). COSEE could work with these informal educators to integrate the standards into their existing curricula and tap into yet another vast network of students and teachers. In particular, COSEE should address
the opportunity to enhance K-8 education by encouraging broad programs of staff
development. These programs could seek funding for teachers to attend workshops
for teacher-to-teacher recruitment; for teacher internships with others
teachers, educational institutions, or researchers; and for promoting summer
institutes for educators to learn about current Ocean Sciences topics. A special
benefit that COSEE could provide would be the development of closer connections
between teachers (and their students) and ocean scientists. Connections should
be arranged, on the one hand, to engage scientists for classroom visits,
activities, projects, and career information, and on the other hand, to create
and maintain links between teachers and research ships and research facilities
for opportunities to participate in the field or laboratories. Connections
should also be encouraged to provide opportunities for students to link with
research vessels via electronic field trips through Web-based links or broadcast
and video, to link by e-mail with researchers in the form of "Ask an
Oceanographer," and to link with scientists for career information. (Before
undertaking an "Ask an Oceanographer" program, however, COSEE should coordinate
with The BRIDGE and its "Ask An Oceanographer" site and the Office of Naval
Research (ONR) and its "Ask the CyberScientist" site.) COSEE should promote
summer, after-school, and informal programs (possibly involving the expansion of
NSF GK-12 programs) and internships with opportunities for students to shadow
Ocean Sciences professionals. To prepare these scientists for interaction with
the students, COSEE could provide tips for making presentations to K-8 students,
assist in the creation or identification of kits and materials to be taken to
classroom presentations or other outreach opportunities, and encourage
scientists to stress the diversity of careers (both academic and
non-academic). Opportunity: To identify exemplary educational materials and ensure they are available, whether from COSEE or through links from COSEE to DLESE or other digital libraries. Strategy: Teachers need to know what Ocean Sciences materials and resources are available and how to obtain them. COSEE can provide this information by inventorying the contributions of existing Ocean Sciences outreach programs, for example, those sponsored by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). COSEE should also determine the usefulness and completeness of these materials. It could also determine any alignment with the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks, provide guidelines for textbook adoption, serve as a voice for teachers to reach publishers, and, as a resource center, preview pilot materials, furnish guidelines for use of curricula, promote professional development, and provide essential tools to meet the NSES and Benchmarks. COSEE could provide "one-stop
shopping" for teacher outreach opportunities, identify sources of expertise for
educators, including supplementary background materials (information search
pathways), and identify funding sources for teacher training, development, and
resources. With respect to funding sources, it should encourage proposals to the
NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR) and the Directorate
for Geosciences (NSF/GEO). COSEE should create a climate for articulation among
ocean scientists and educators. In this climate educators could be encouraged to
interpret scientific information for general and K-8 audiences and to be
involved in the initial phases of grant proposals. COSEE should facilitate
collaborations both to produce traveling exhibits (to museums, malls, state
fairs) and to produce exemplary educational materials. As a linking site, COSEE
could provide Web "hot links" to other Ocean Sciences sites, education sites,
and professional organization sites, and provide educators with links to arts,
literature, history, and other areas that can supplement or be integrated into
science curricula, thereby promoting the integration of science within the K-8
curricula. COSEE could also provide linkages to model schools that use an
interdisciplinary approach with the oceans as a theme. It could also provide
demonstrations of simple hands-on activities that can be completed at home or in
the classroom; use existing platforms for Ocean Sciences education, such as
Public Broadcasting System programs; and provide guidance to existing video
materials. COSEE should partner with publishers and others groups at national
educators’ conferences to promote COSEE efforts. Opportunity: To improve the "pipelines" that connect underrepresented and underserved groups with Ocean Sciences education. Strategy: Underrepresented and underserved groups in science can be connected to the Ocean Sciences if COSEE will join educators in an effort to reach them by providing services for these students and their families through social services agencies, libraries, museums, nature centers, aquariums, and specialized programs. Another method for connecting is to disseminate hands-on kits for parents and guardians to use and learn from, along with their children. COSEE could assist teachers by promoting awareness about PBS, TV programs and specials, series like Bill Nye (The Science Guy), the Magic School Bus, and Kratts’ Creatures, as well as educational videocassettes that portray realistic, quality content and graphic representations. The combined experience of informal and formal educators is one of the richest sources for connecting with these populations. COSEE should establish regional
linkages between formal and information education organizations, policy makers,
and leaders of underrepresented groups. It should promote a National Ocean
Week—underwritten by major corporations or foundations. The YMCA, YWCA, 4-H
Club, local community and park recreation centers, Boys’ and Girls’ clubs, and
scouting can be targeted for participation in National Ocean Week and beyond.
(Note: a National Ocean Day already exists and took place on June 8, 2000, but
the timing at the end of the school year prohibited many students from
participating.) Radio, public TV, and other distance education media can be used
to reach underserved communities. It is important to include (on the Web page)
segments and streamed video clips of minorities studying, teaching, and
conducting research in the Ocean Sciences in order to attract the attention of
this population. Opportunity: To expose K-8 students to the wide variety of careers available in the Ocean Sciences. Strategy: It is essential to build an awareness
of the wonderful planet on which we live, the world around us and to refute
profession and career stereotypes, including gender stereotypes, in the process.
Preparation that involves this exposure helps to promote decision-making and
interest. COSEE should highlight careers via commercials and public service
announcements. Information should include virtual experience and real-life
experience for exposure to careers and Ocean Sciences disciplines. Scientists
could be videotaped within the context of their workplace and research; this
activity should also be related to other careers. COSEE should stimulate an
interest for future generations, parent- or guardian-to-child, to become
directly involved in the Ocean Sciences. There is a need to have an informed
citizenry familiar with all areas directly related to the Ocean Sciences.
Grades 9-12 Ocean Sciences Education Two crucial issues specifically affect
today's students in grades 9 to 12 and result in their disengagement from
science: (1) By grade 9, students are often completely disinterested in or are
afraid of science. Can their interest be triggered and their innate curiosity
rekindled by realizing that the oceans play a prominent role in their life and
the life of the planet? (2) The population of students in grades 9 to 12 is
especially at risk due to societal pressures and cultural and social barriers
that deter them from pursuing scientific interests. As noted by Tiffany McWane,
a junior at the School Without Walls in Washington, D.C., and a participant in
the COSEE workshop, "Even when scientifically-engaged earlier in their lives, it
becomes difficult for students to keep their love for science alive." Could the
Ocean Sciences community play a role in reducing the loss of students interested
in science? Opportunity: To enrich personal experiences through collaborations that can affect students in all schools, in non-coastal as well as coastal states, in technologically or geographically isolated communities as well as urban magnet schools, and for underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged, high-risk students as well as mainstream students. Strategy: COSEE should be able to direct educators to programs for students in grades 9 to 12 that are funded at the national and regional levels by the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR), Sea Grant, the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other Federal agencies, state departments of education, and non-governmental organizations. COSEE would identify, assess, and inventory these programs. COSEE could specifically target and recruit underrepresented, high-risk students in grades 9 to 12 for internships in Ocean Sciences. COSEE should take the lead in long-term experiences (i.e., internships over several years or summers) and in tracking changes in the student development through these experiences. COSEE should identify and select critical Ocean Sciences themes for collaborative efforts between scientists and students, teachers and students, or media and scientists. For example, during the last few years of El Niño and La Niña, media coverage has allowed scientific understanding of the phenomena to penetrate the comprehension of the general public and students in a pervasive way. COSEE should help develop, produce, test, and offer high-quality, "endorsed," educational materials, research experiences, courses, and programs, such as adapting the Chautauqua course format (See Glossary, Appendix 8, for definition.) for students in grades 9 to12 and developing a hosting program that links parents or guardians and students from coastal states and non-coastal states. In the spirit of "Language Exchange Programs," to be immersed in a culture is to learn a culture. Personal experiences for learners of all ages, and especially for students in grades 9 to12, require that COSEE take into account the financial and poverty issues that render many students in the U.S. non-mobile. COSEE should plan to "take the oceans to the community rather than bring all communities to the oceans." Through the Internet, a virtual ocean, lake, or river can be brought into the classrooms and homes. The most disadvantaged students, however, are likely not to have the technology to access these remote experiences. Knowledge about the Ocean Sciences might be brought to the "forgotten schools" in the U.S. by means of traveling exhibits (real and virtual), speaker tours (scientists, educators and maritime professionals), and mobile van units with educational materials. Collaboration with informal educators will once again prove to be invaluable for COSEE, for these type of programs already exist with many informal educators. Their advice and assistance will save COSEE time and funds. COSEE should provide invaluable
opportunities to link mentors and learners of all ages and diversity. This role
is particularly important in the life of students and especially important at
the 9-12 grade level, when students are envisioning what their professional
future might hold. They need exposure and access to information on
careers. Opportunity: To integrate natural sciences, social sciences, arts, languages, and humanities through the interdisciplinary aspect of Ocean Sciences, as an approach to science literacy. Strategy: It is essential for students in grades
9 to12 to be able to make connections between various subjects studied in the
classroom and to develop skills in problem-based learning that they can use in
the world of work. Ocean Sciences can serve as an unparalleled vehicle both to
improve problem-based learning and to incorporate core subjects such as social
studies, arts, and languages in order to provide integrated learning
experiences. If COSEE were to take a leading role in promoting and supporting a
novel teaching-learning approach by infusing Ocean Sciences in high school as a
reality-based example of integrated learning, universities might have greater
confidence in recognizing Ocean Sciences as a perfect tool to teach
interdisciplinary science rather than, as often happens, too challenging a
subject to teach because of its interdisciplinary aspect. Undergraduate Ocean Sciences Education Many two-year and four-year colleges
and universities offer a general education course in Ocean Sciences. Many of
these institutions, however, lack access to research technology and are thereby
limited in their offerings. Some colleges and universities offer a baccalaureate
degree program in Ocean Sciences. These programs are attractive for students who
do not wish to limit themselves to one of the basic sciences. They can study the
biology, chemistry, geology, and physics of the ocean. Even so, just as students
in grades 9-12 can be deterred from pursuing scientific interests, so too can
college and university freshmen. But for freshmen, a common, but by no means the
sole, reason for "dropping out" of science is poor teaching (Seymour and Hewitt,
1997). COSEE should encourage effective and innovative teaching in the Ocean
Sciences, to make courses in these sciences especially attractive to a diverse
clientele. Opportunity: To facilitate the development and distribution of marine educational resources, both digital and experiential, that can be used to enhance undergraduate education in the Ocean Sciences. Strategy: COSEE should provide easy access to the high-quality instructional materials that are in great demand for undergraduate Ocean Sciences education. Many faculty members teaching oceanography at the introductory level have not been formally trained in the Ocean Sciences or in college teaching. This situation is especially true at the community colleges, which enroll almost half the undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. and which serve underrepresented groups and future teachers in large numbers. These faculty members can be assisted by having research results of the Ocean Sciences community available in their undergraduate classroom and laboratory to capture the interests of students early in their academic years. In many cases, digital and other resources already exist; particularly through the various programs of NASA, however, widespread knowledge of these resources or experience in incorporating them into courses is lacking. Also lacking is a critical mass of essential equipment such as portable laptop computers and projectors. Many departments have one (or only a few) of each, which makes usage of them during teaching difficult. Therefore, making high-quality resources for these computers accessible through a widely recognized portal is critical to their widespread use. In other cases, research materials need to be transformed into efficient learning instruments and reviewed for educational quality, after which they can be linked to digital libraries. Gaps in the content and quality of existing materials need to be identified. COSEE can play a proactive role in soliciting projects to fill these gaps. Once developed, learning resources could be accessed through COSEE either in person or through links to stable, long-term digital libraries such as the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE). Educational resources available
through COSEE should, however, extend beyond educational materials to include
linking people to people. COSEE should assist in identifying exciting
opportunities in field-based and laboratory-based activities for experiential
learning or laboratory research for undergraduate faculty and students. These
opportunities can be made available through COSEE's linkages to the research
community and sites of informal education or through collaborations with other
undergraduate institutions, on a national or regional basis. Other resources may
include opportunities for undergraduate students to attend professional meetings
and workshops, to participate in internships, and to gain research experiences
aboard oceanographic vessels. Indeed, COSEE should serve as an important
referral service to a wide variety of resources and opportunities, all of which
can have a positive impact on the quality of undergraduate education through
enhancements in content knowledge, educational materials, instructional methods,
and theories in student learning. Opportunity: To provide opportunities for professional development to enhance faculty knowledge of the interdisciplinary nature of the Ocean Sciences, innovative pedagogical methods in science education, new uses of instructional technology, communication methods with the public, and mentoring skills. Strategy: The dynamic nature and
interdisciplinary foundation of Ocean Sciences require that faculty knowledge in
the discipline be constantly renewed and enhanced. This training should extend
beyond current faculty to include graduate students who will serve as future
faculty. Training should take multiple paths to include subject knowledge as
well as teaching methods and skills in student mentoring. The last two subjects
are not included in traditional graduate training. In addition, postdoctoral
scientists should be provided with opportunities in education, such as those
offered through NFS’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science, Math, Engineering, and
Technology Education (PFSMETE) Program. Such opportunities are particularly
important if COSEE serves as an advocate for the career benefit of such
educational experiences, a benefit that is only now being recognized in some
departments. COSEE should promote the availability of programs in the NSF
Divisions of Undergraduate and Graduate Education (NSF/DUE, NSF/DGE) and the
Directorate for Geosciences (NSF/GEO) to implement this strategy and the other
strategies presented here. Opportunity: To establish linkages between students and faculty at undergraduate institutions and the Ocean Sciences research community, K-12 education, informal education, underserved populations, private industry, state and federal laboratories, the national and regional media, and the general public. Strategy: Although many projects throughout the
nation are devoted to Ocean Sciences education, the undergraduate Ocean Sciences
community is serving an increasingly diverse audience, such as science majors,
environmental studies students, general education students, and preservice and
inservice K-12 science teachers. As a result of this growing community, linkages
should be established between existing programs in Ocean Sciences education and
the educational sectors. For example, linkages could be explored between the
Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE), the Marine Advanced
Technology Education (MATE) Center, and the Ocean Sciences Education Teacher
Resource Center (The BRIDGE), on the one hand, and the educational sectors, on
the other hand, including K-12 schools, graduate universities, community
colleges, four-year colleges and universities, informal education sites, and
cultural groups of underrepresented populations, located in both coastal and
non-coastal sites. These linkages should foster collaboration in Ocean Sciences
education, including making available internship and career information for
students and faculty, as well as opportunities to improve outreach to the media
and the public. Opportunity: To assist in establishing guidelines to strengthen and reform curricula in the Ocean Sciences, including core competencies and methods of assessment. Strategy: Introductory courses in oceanography serve a very broad group of students including non-majors fulfilling a science requirement, undergraduate majors, and preservice science teachers. These courses are offered in a number of formats, including lecture, laboratory, field-based or problem-based learning, non-linear modular approaches, and most recently, online formats. In addition, the goals for these courses are often different, reflecting the different audiences they serve. At some institutions these courses serve as a gateway to the major, whereas in others the course may fulfill the final general education requirement for a graduating senior. In addition to providing educational resources to these diverse formats, COSEE should serve as a national forum for discussions on appropriate core competencies for courses based on their target audience. In particular, COSEE should facilitate discussions on core competencies that should be mastered prior to entering more advanced course work in the major. COSEE should also facilitate discussions concerning the adoption of valuable assessment strategies to improve curricula. For example, guidelines could be adopted from successful course models for recruiting and retaining members of underrepresented groups in the Ocean Sciences or for meeting the needs of preservice science teachers. In the undergraduate major, discussions could be held on the meaning of an undergraduate degree in the Ocean Sciences and on ways to ensure the degree provides a direct pathway to careers at the baccalaureate level or to graduate work. Some graduate research institutions do not understand the requirements of the undergraduate degree, with a resulting confusion that may inhibit the most promising students from pursuing graduate studies, even though they had found a special interest in the Ocean Sciences early in their academic life. One argument holds that Ocean Sciences will never be viewed as an equal to traditional scientific disciplines until it gains the visibility of a widely established undergraduate degree program. The low level of current visibility may be one reason that the Ocean Sciences play a marginal role in the K-12 national and state science education standards. COSEE should consider advocating an Ocean Sciences Advanced Test for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) so that undergraduate Ocean Sciences majors are not forced to take the biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, or physics test. The Ocean Sciences serve as an
excellent vehicle to enhance the knowledge of science content and process for
preservice teachers, especially at the elementary and middle-school levels. In
this connection, there is a debate whether preservice science teachers should be
taught in existing courses for majors or in courses designed to meet their
special needs. COSEE could provide a forum for these discussions and for
discussions on developing assessment tools for student learning or degree
outcomes, both of which are receiving growing attention on a national
scale. Opportunity: To advocate equal recognition of education and research activities as a national goal, including contributions of members of the research community to educational initiatives. Strategy: In some institutions, particularly
research universities, projects in education are not valued as highly as
research projects. This situation acts as a barrier to the participation of many
junior faculty in education and public outreach. It also inhibits the
contributions of scientists at research institutions. COSEE could serve a
powerful role of advocacy to ensure that educational efforts are properly
rewarded as valuable contributions to the field of Ocean Sciences specifically
and to undergraduate education in general (See Appendix 5). Opportunity: To provide a resource center for career opportunities for undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented and underserved populations. Strategy: The Ocean Sciences community does not
currently reflect the diversity of our nation's population. Many groups are
underrepresented and underserved. The Ocean Sciences are not the major that
comes to the minds of many of these students, especially those who may represent
the first member of the family to attend an institution of higher education. As
a result, the undergraduate institutions in the Ocean Sciences must make a
special, and sustained, effort to engage the interest of this population. COSEE
should provide information and linkages to successful programs for addressing
this education challenge, such as the Native Americans in Marine Science program
at Oregon State University, and the Minorities in Marine Science Undergraduate
Program (MIMSUP) at Western Washington University, as well as access to a
listing of underrepresented peoples currently employed in the Ocean Sciences who
can serve as mentors to these students. Moreover, COSEE should provide a focus
for discussions on innovative programs around the nation that are addressing
this critical need, for example, the American Society of Limnology and
Oceanography (ASLO) program. Teacher Preparation and Teacher Enhancement/Professional Development The central question is "How do we
create opportunities for educators at all levels to involve others more
effectively in the excitement of ocean discoveries?" This question clearly cuts
across many disciplines and organizational structures, including two- and
four-year institutions of higher education and their associated faculties within
Schools of Education and Schools of Science, public school administrators,
informal science educators, and scientists and professional organizations such
as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Several programs in the NSF
Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR) are applicable to these
opportunities. Because many recommendations for teacher preparation and teacher
enhancement/professional development overlap their respective divisions of
"preservice" and "inservice," the term "educator" includes those involved in all
sectors of education, including K-12, undergraduate, graduate, informal
education initiatives, and scientists involved in education efforts.
Opportunity: To provide unique opportunities for faculties within Schools of Education and Schools of Science to enhance their understanding of how to teach Ocean Sciences topics more effectively. Strategy: First, the basic
Ocean Sciences content necessary to determine a level of proficiency in
understanding the ocean system needs to be identified, i.e., what is it that an
educator needs to know to have a basic understanding of the interconnected ocean
system in order to teach it effectively to others? Answering this question will
require extensive conversations among key stakeholders, in particular faculties
within the higher education system, so that students exit colleges and
universities with a sound Ocean Sciences content knowledge. Once the "basic
Ocean Sciences content" question has been answered, Chatauqua courses (See
definition, Appendix 8.) should be offered to higher education faculty within
Schools of Education and Schools of Science to demonstrate not only effective
approaches and methods of teaching Ocean Sciences, but also ways of teaching
basic science concepts in biology, chemistry, geosciences, physics, and
mathematics using the Ocean Sciences as the vehicle. COSEE can place this
development on a firm foundation by encouraging research to discover how
students learn integrated sciences such as the Ocean Sciences. Cooperation with
the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and its
commitment to the improvement of science teaching and learning through research
should be explored. Opportunity: To enhance collaborations among all groups involved in teacher preparation and teacher enhancement/professional development. Strategy: Because the Ocean
Sciences are interdisciplinary, appropriate incentives need to be in place to
encourage collaborations among faculties within Schools of Education and Schools
of Science, with a special emphasis placed on involving research faculty. COSEE
could countenance the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF/OCE) to encourage
these collaborations by requiring that all proposals submitted to NSF/OCE
contain education components tied directly to the proposed research. In
addition, appropriate education proposals submitted to NSF/OCE and the NSF
Division of Undergraduate Education (NSF/DUE) might include partnering with
scientists involved in current Ocean Sciences research. Interdisciplinary
approaches would be encouraged for both groups. Liaisons well-versed in both
education and research could be available, as needed, to help "bridge the gap"
between the educators and scientists to develop competitive proposals. COSEE
might advocate that research institutions designate a department liaison to
provide outreach and education in the K-12 community and to serve as a point of
contact for the education community seeking guidance and support in the Ocean
Sciences. COSEE should also promote greater "crossing over" of professional
organizations of educators and scientists as a means of "bridging the gap" and
increasing the awareness of COSEE and the fundamental role it can play in
connecting educators and scientists in ocean research. Opportunity: To design more effective teacher preparation and teacher enhancement and professional development programs. Strategy: Teacher enhancement and professional development programs promoted by COSEE should be long-term, spanning several years, and modeled after research-based best practices so that clear, research-based technical assistance pathways are offered as opposed to a series of one-shot workshops. These pathways should continue to support participants by providing them resources and other types of support long after their initial participation in the program. An interdisciplinary, team-based approach (pairing scientists with educators as instructors) is a highly-effective means of designing teacher enhancement/professional development programs. Exemplary informal education programs should be incorporated into the overall design of professional development "pathways." Training needs to be offered to all educators to demonstrate effective methods of connecting Ocean Sciences to other subject areas, including mathematics, literature, social studies, and history. Problem-based learning approaches should be encouraged. Additionally, educators must have access to field experiences and a solid understanding in how to translate these experiences effectively into engaging, interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches that will enable them better to prepare students to make intelligent, rational decision about issues affecting the world ocean. Courses and training need to be offered to show educators how they can effectively integrate cutting-edge technology and data relative to Ocean Sciences exploration into classrooms in all education sectors. Every effort should be made to strive for a seamless integration between content and technology. Teacher enhancement/professional development opportunities, including formal course work and informal science program offerings should, as appropriate, be tied to Ocean Sciences concepts or applications that are specific to a geographic region, thereby enabling educators more effectively to demonstrate real-world connections (relevancy) in science teaching and learning. This process would also provide a means of leveraging formal and informal education and scientific resources within the region. Teacher education and teacher enhancement/professional development offerings must include career components so that educators can pique students’ interest in pursuing Ocean Sciences careers by providing them with access to high quality, up-to-date information on these careers so as to ensure a "critical mass" of future researchers for Ocean Sciences disciplines. Finally, there is a critical need
nationally for the development of a more effective evaluation instrument for
teacher enhancement/professional development programs. Historically, these
programs, if evaluated at all, have based evaluations solely on student
achievement and have failed to take into account such factors as changes in
teaching behavior, use of exemplary standards-based materials, standards-based
assessment, educators’ roles as leaders in their field, student attitudes toward
the subject area, partnerships, policy development, and resources leveraged to
support the project. Opportunity: To increase opportunities for participation in ocean science courses. Strategy: Research indicates that approximately one-half of all undergraduates—including one-half of African-Americans, one-half of Hispanics, and one-half of Native American students—in this country are enrolled in community colleges. Developing courses in the Ocean Sciences that could be offered at these institutions would ensure that the majority of undergraduates, and in particular, a majority of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science, would have access to ocean science courses. Additionally, successful recruitment strategies need to be explored for involving both educators and scientists from traditionally underrepresented groups in Ocean Sciences education and research. Linkages between community
colleges/technical colleges and four-year higher education institutions need to
be encouraged to facilitate opportunities for educators to enroll in Ocean
Sciences-related courses for continuing education or graduate credit.
Opportunity: To provide access to high-quality Ocean Sciences curricular materials. Strategy: COSEE should facilitate the development of criteria to determine what is, in fact, considered to be an exemplary curriculum and curricular materials. In addition, a peer review process for curriculum materials should be established, including both educators and scientists, to review these materials. The materials should be standards based (correlated to the American Association for the Advancement of Science Benchmarks and the National Science Education Standards (NSES)); the professional development programs need to support these materials. The materials should ensure a sound foundation for understanding Ocean Sciences concepts at the completion of the experience. COSEE could play a role in serving as a portal for effective professional development models and the dissemination of exemplary curricula and curricular materials, thus ensuring quality control ("COSEE-approved") and accessibility for all. Models developed by NASA for Earth Science education could be examples. An information database, tied into the
Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), along with an effective
dissemination network, needs to be in place so that educators and scientists
within a region can easily locate each other and have access to resources and
opportunities unique to each, thereby encouraging partnerships and
collaborations between the two groups. Liaisons can assist both groups with
"teasing out" the appropriate education component of the research, and they can
provide assistance to educators submitting education proposals on effectively
incorporating Ocean Sciences research-based experiences into the proposed
project. Opportunity: To identify Ocean Sciences lead educators and provide them with leadership opportunities. Strategy: Effective means of
identifying "leadership teachers and emerging leadership teachers" for COSEE
program participation need to be explored, with a specific emphasis placed on
elementary and middle school teachers. Professional development opportunities
should likewise be created for school- and district-level administrators so that
these lead educators would have the necessary and very critical support to build
capacity at the regional and local levels. In addition to teacher enhancement
and professional development opportunities, leadership development opportunities
need to be offered (facilitation skills, presentation skills, grant-writing
skills, and team-building skills, to name a few) to ensure the highest quality
in the delivery of the professional development programs related to the Ocean
Sciences. Ocean Sciences Research and Information Technology With the rapid changes in, and
increasing capabilities of, technologies that allow not only wider distribution
of information but also more exciting presentation of that information,
educators are poised to integrate Ocean Sciences into the lifelong learning
experiences of every citizen. This will happen only through the establishment of
partnerships and cooperative ventures between scientists, formal and informal
educators, the media, policy makers, and community leaders. However, true
partnerships and collaborations are difficult to achieve between disparate
groups without a concerted effort to promote them. COSEE should provide the
forum for the types of activities that are necessary in order to bring this
integration to fruition. Opportunity To translate Ocean Sciences data and information into products usable by educators. Strategy: The highest priority in incorporating the Ocean Sciences into the education process, whether in a classroom setting or in an informal setting, is the translation of Ocean Sciences data and information into products usable by educators. NASA’s presentation of Ocean Sciences data on El Niño for educational use is a shining example. Scientific researchers typically need assistance in producing educational materials, and science educators are faced with huge data sets that are hard to interpret and understand. The best way to overcome this dilemma is to provide mechanisms to develop stronger partnerships between scientists and educators so that (1) scientists can learn and understand the needs of educators; (2) they can jointly select appropriate data and translate them into usable products; (3) educators can learn and understand the scientific content and implications; and (4) the results and materials can be infused into the educational process. COSEE’s role should be to provide opportunities to initiate and nurture partnerships and collaborations between scientists and educators. This role requires a more aggressive approach than simply providing a portal for contact information, and opportunities must be provided to bring educators and scientists together to interact on common issues. COSEE might identify critical Ocean Sciences themes of interest, and then sponsor topic-specific workshops for scientists and educators to discuss the available information, the goals of including that topic in education resources, and the possible content of those materials. Such interactions could result in collaborations and the development of joint proposals from more than one Ocean Sciences education sector. COSEE’s encouragement of research on how students learn integrated science could provide added strength to such proposals. Furthermore, inasmuch as one of the functions of the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is to provide communication networks that facilitate collaborations across all interests of Earth system education, COSEE should collaborate with DLESE for the greater effectiveness and efficiency of both organizations. COSEE could also benefit from discussion with NASAof its highly successful translation of research results into educational resources. An important part of learning and understanding the issues in the different working environments of the scientists and the educators is the opportunity to experience them. COSEE could maintain a database of field and laboratory opportunities for formal and informal educators, including science faculty in two-year and four-year colleges and universities, to work with scientists doing Ocean Sciences research. Other COSEE-sponsored internships could also be offered to encourage participation by underrepresented groups. Conversely, COSEE could initiate a "Scientist in the Classroom" program in which it helps educators find a scientist in their area willing to visit the classroom and participate in the teaching process. A major barrier to the successful
development of scientist-educator partnerships, however, is the value system
that is currently in place in many research institutions and universities.
Promotions, tenure, and other career-track decisions are commonly made on the
basis of contributions to research with little value placed on efforts to
improve education of students or the general public. A cultural shift is
required in academia toward greater acknowledgment of contributions to education
in order to encourage scientists to invest more time in education. COSEE should
encourage the NSF to develop more programs to address this issue, like the
Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), Graduate Teaching Fellows in
K-12 Education (GK-12), and Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship Program (IGERT) (See Appendix 5). Opportunity: To provide exemplary education materials at all levels. Strategy: A large amount of Ocean Sciences education materials of varying content and quality is now available for educators. However, the busy educator needs a place to go where he or she can find materials or links to materials that are certified to be of high quality, are current, and address the National Science Education Standards (NSES), state standards, and the Benchmarks. An important role for COSEE should be to identify exemplary educational materials and gaps, and develop new materials and programs, using current Ocean Sciences data. The first issue that COSEE would face
is defining "exemplary" in the context of Ocean Sciences education. Some of the
criteria might be that the material has gone through a rigorous review,
assessment, and evaluation process, is appropriate for the entire society, and
incorporates career information. COSEE-encouraged research on how people learn
integrated sciences could provide insight, as could cooperation with the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the application
of its criteria for Middle Grades Science Textbooks Evaluation (See Appendix 8)
and with DLESE and the application of its evaluation criteria. Based on a review
of available materials, COSEE could give a "COSEE Stamp of Approval" to some and
provide either a link to the Web location of those materials or information on
their availability in hard copy. COSEE could then organize development of
products to fill gaps and provide current topics in the Ocean Sciences. COSEE
must also determine its responsibility for endorsed exemplary material when the
research results on which the material is based are superseded by different
results. It will be essential for COSEE to reach a mutual understanding with
clearing houses on the review by COSEE of Ocean Sciences information reposited
in their collections. Opportunity: To develop effective models for evaluation of Ocean Sciences educational materials and programs. Strategy: Evaluation and validation are essential
parts of the development of Ocean Sciences educational materials and programs.
However, scientists are completely unfamiliar with these requirements, and hence
cannot institute effective assessment procedures in the development of programs.
In addition, the new instructional technologies currently being used are likely
to require different evaluation tools. COSEE needs to provide services to assist
scientist-educator partnerships in assessing their needs in terms of evaluation.
The roles that COSEE could play include: (1) conducting needs assessments for
scientists, educators, and evaluators; (2) determining effective
evaluation tools for new instructional technologies; and (3) holding sessions to
train the Ocean Sciences community to use the tools. Opportunity: To use information instructional technologies effectively in Ocean Sciences education. Strategy: Information technology is a rapidly advancing field that will play an increasingly important role in lifelong educational activities. NASA has been a leader in this field. In fact, according to CNN, Ocean Sciences information on the 1997-1998 El Niño supplied by ocean scientists through NASA reached two billion people. Changes are occurring in TV, video media, and the Internet so rapidly that five to ten years from now every home in the nation may well have integrated technologies that will change the way the nation learns. It is very important, however, for educators, as they look toward this scenario, to remember there are still many parts of the country that lack access to the Web. Hence, over the next several years, the capabilities of our nation’s schools will vary considerably, and yet our educational tools must continue to meet the needs of everyone. Effective utilization of informational technologies requires access, and many underserved communities do not have the infrastructure, hardware, or software to access the Internet. COSEE should lead efforts to articulate the importance of access and to identify funding for the required capabilities. As local areas are able to upgrade, COSEE should also provide updates on the future directions of connectivity. As access to a range of instructional technologies becomes more widely available, integrating different technologies to enhance the effectiveness of delivery will become an important issue. A range of studies has been conducted on the effectiveness of different technologies for different communities and cultures, and it will be important for COSEE to keep those individuals designing Ocean Sciences educational materials aware of the progress being made in this research. In addition, scientists and educators will need training to better use broadcast, multimedia, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), visualization, and data-manipulation techniques in the educational process. One of the major vehicles for COSEE educational materials is likely to be video. COSEE should assist in the development of regional partnerships between educators, scientists, and production companies to develop video materials, and to encourage the use of other broadcast media, such as TV, in presenting Ocean Sciences. COSEE should also be alert to the significance on the development of educational materials of the switch to HDTV. Changes in technology occur rapidly. It will be important that COSEE keep abreast of those changes and work toward making the changes appear seamless. This process will require COSEE to monitor advances in technology, and maintain and upgrade services appropriately. In addition, COSEE should identify professional Information Technology societies, and arrange for connections to them by ocean scientists and educators. The innate human fascination with the
ocean, coupled with the interdisciplinary nature of the Ocean Sciences and
accessibility of ocean data, creates an excellent opportunity for incorporating
technology into the learning experience. COSEE should encourage the sharing of
experiences using different technologies, providing a foundation for an open
discussion on how technology and science education relate to 1) Curriculum
Reform – What intellectual skills do students need, and how can technology be
used to foster them? 2) Professional Development – What training do teachers
need to effectively incorporate technology into their classrooms? 3) Assessment
– What methods exist, or need to be developed, to evaluate technology as an
effective learning tool? 4) Equity – What can be done to better ensure that all
children can realize the potential benefits of educational technology?
Opportunity: To use the Internet as a collaborative tool. Strategy: The Internet is revolutionizing the way in which we send and receive information, learn, and actively participate in scientific research. It provides an information resource, an educational tool, a means of distributing scientific data to the public, and a means of communicating between individuals in all walks of life. One of the main functions of COSEE, as the portal for Ocean Sciences education, should be to maintain a Web site that offers Internet services effectively. These services will require "good" Web site design and a user-friendly and high-level search capability. Given that other efforts are currently underway to provide digital information for educators, such as DLESE and The BRIDGE, it will be important that COSEE interface easily with these digital libraries. However, COSEE also needs to arrange a mechanism with these libraries to endorse those Ocean Sciences education materials that it finds of high quality. The "COSEE Stamp of Approval" discussed in the previous section could meet that need. The COSEE portal should provide access
to several destinations of opportunities and resources. One educational resource
should be Ocean Sciences data sets for educational use, such as environmental
monitoring data and sample scientific data sets for student manipulation. COSEE
should ensure that Ocean Sciences data are a part of DLESE and other digital
libraries. As the portal for Ocean Sciences education, COSEE should also provide
"one-stop" access through links to societies, professional organizations, and
research projects. With an "Ask an Oceanographer" program, COSEE could provide
opportunities for interactions between scientists and the general public to
promote a sense of participation. However, in preparation for such a program,
COSEE would be well advised to coordinate with The BRIDGE and its "Ask An
Oceanographer" site and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and its "Ask the
CyberScientist" site. Opportunity: To evaluate the use of technologies for Ocean Sciences education. Strategy: As with content evaluation for Ocean
Sciences educational materials, it is important that the effectiveness of
different instructional technologies be evaluated. COSEE should encourage the
involvement of education researchers in continuous evaluation of the
implementation of new instructional technologies.
A Portal for Ocean Sciences Education and Professional Development There is a demand for a portal to ideas, information, and resources that connect and celebrate Ocean Sciences teaching, learning, and scientific discovery at all levels. The COSEE portal needs to have high visibility and be perceived as "the place to go first" for Ocean Sciences educational resources and services. In this sense, COSEE will bear resemblance to educational efforts of organizations in other geosciences, for example, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which is "the place to go first" for education materials and services in Atmospheric Sciences, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) in Seismology, and the Earth System Science Education (ESSE) Program of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) in Earth System Science. Once inside the portal, either "virtually" by computer or in person at a regional COSEE center, the user should expect to find several resource destinations, one of which should be "Educational Materials." An elementary role for the portal would be as an entry, by means of links, to the clearing houses for Ocean Sciences educational materials that already exist, such as The BRIDGE, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), and the NASA Earth Science Enterprise (NASA/ESE). These educational materials include books, films, videos, curricula, hands-on activities, and Web-based programs. Because so many people are unaware of the full constellation of the clearing houses that exist, or what they do, an inventory of these sources is essential. COSEE should not duplicate other efforts but provide an added value. COSEE should also ensure that these materials are made accessible to more users, and to more diverse users. To accomplish this goal COSEE should explore close collaboration with the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), even to becoming a federated partner of DLESE. DLESE is to be operated as a distributed network across the Earth Sciences and will thus include the Ocean Sciences. DLESE is already developing the systems by which materials can be organized for easy discovery and the systems for transparent access to these materials. COSEE should work with DLESE to ensure that these metadata systems of discovery and access are appropriate for Ocean Sciences educational materials and other educational resources. If COSEE organizes the Ocean Sciences educational resources so they can be accessed through DLESE, both programs will benefit. COSEE should be a major participant in the efforts across the Earth sciences to share resources for mutual benefits and to ensure that all parties can communicate effectively. In addition, DLESE will bring Ocean Sciences materials to the attention of a larger audience. COSEE could join UCAR, IRIS, ESSE, and other organizations as federated partners of DLESE in order to share digital resources and technology and to be an integral part of the National Digital Library for Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education. COSEE should examine the system for reviewing educational materials that is being developed by DLESE and consider it for adoption to ensure consistency. COSEE should participate in the deliberations by DLESE in developing review criteria to ensure that they are appropriate for Ocean Sciences material. Both COSEE and DLESE could then publicize these criteria. Partnership with DLESE could also lead to a three-part collaboration. COSEE could be expected to identify the needs in Ocean Sciences education for Ocean Sciences data sets. COSEE and DLESE could, together, develop the instructional technology and pedagogy for their use in the classroom. And DLESE could be expected to provide the discovery systems and services for users. COSEE should also facilitate the creation of new educational materials for discovery by using the DLESE technology through either the COSEE or the DLESE portal. Both digital and non-digital educational materials could be distributed by COSEE or by the creators of the materials. The DLESE information networks should be able to direct users to the materials, whether digital or non-digital. COSEE would be expected to increase the quantity, diversity, and quality of educational materials, while categorizing them, acting to fill important gaps, and awarding a COSEE approval to the best of them. COSEE should also—likely in partnership with DLESE—ensure that promising pedagogical practices in the use of these and other materials are developed and made available. For educational materials, COSEE should be responsible for providing needed and reviewed materials to the DLESE discovery system. Another destination through the COSEE portal should be "Curricula." These curricula would bring the excitement of Ocean Sciences research into the classroom. By developing these curricula in collaboration with the information technology developments of DLESE, COSEE can make sure the curricula can be discovered through the DLESE system. COSEE should also be a portal to a much-needed research-based technical assistance professional development pathway for faculty, future faculty, preservice and inservice teachers, informal educators and administrators. These programs would be rigorous offerings in content, technology, grant proposal-writing, leadership skills, Ocean Sciences research experiences, appropriate pedagogical approaches, and preparation of Chatauqua courses (See Appendix 8 for definition). COSEE should ensure that proposals are written to support participants in the pathway. COSEE Lead Educators could be the end product of the pathways. Other professional development opportunities offered outside of the formal COSEE pathway should be identified and assistance provided by COSEE to help re-design and enhance Ocean Sciences content and pedagogy in these programs, as appropriate. For example, scientists, who are not traditionally trained to share their discoveries with the general public, could learn methods of better translating and presenting their research results. "Master Ocean Sciences Educators" could be identified, who would be willing to serve as mentors to preservice teachers. COSEE should be a "meeting place" for all those who share an interest in, and a passion for, the aquatic environment, both saltwater and freshwater—researchers, educators in all sectors, media, and decision-makers. COSEE could help reduce the isolation of Ocean Sciences educators in all education sectors, just as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) program "Building a Presence for Science" aims to end the isolation of the classroom science teacher. In aiding this communicati |