MARGINS Education/Outreach Activities at the MARGINS-IFREE

IBM Workshop, and Beyond

Jeff Ryan, University of South Florida,

For the MARGINS Education/Outreach Advisory Committee (Rosemary Hickey-Vargas, Cathy Manduca, Don Reed, Jeff Ryan, Paul Umhoefer, Geoff Abers (ex officio))

MARGINS E&O Activities

• MARGINS Distinguished Lecturer Program• MARGINS Best Student Presentation

Awards• MARGINS Postdoctoral fellowships

• Externally funded MARGINS E&O opportunities.

– CCLI project…

Bringing MARGINS Science to the Classroom

• NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program Phase 1 project

• Objective: to engage the MARGINS community of researchers/educators in developing and testing Web-deliverable learning materials that reflect the multidisciplinary nature of MARGINS science (MARGINS “Mini-Lessons”). – Taking advantage of the growing, searchable

MARGINS data resources at MGDS and EarthChem, and new geospatial data visualization technologies (GeoMapApp, Google Earth, etc.).

Rationale for this effort:

• Our discipline is struggling nationally (and internationally!): BS, MS, and Ph.D program enrollments are flat to declining; geoscience departments are under threat. Fewer students are discovering the geosciences in their first two years of college (when they decide on their majors…).

• Current geoscience instruction (as expressed in current texts) does not reflect the multidisciplinary, integrative nature of cutting-edge geoscience research.

• Creating geoscience learning materials more aligned with what we do as researchers can engage more students, and will certainly prepare them better to participate in our research!

MARGINS Science in the Classroom Kickoff:

• MARGINS Education Mini-Workshop (April 7-8, 2007)– 26 participants – Produced 15 Mini-

Lessons (with 5 more under construction…)

– An objective out of this event: a thematic suite of materials based on the IBM Focus Site!

Project Website

http://serc.carleton.edu/margins/

Mini-Lesson Collection(thus far…)

• Development of a thematic “package” of Mini-Lessons based on discoveries in the IBM Subduction System.

MARGINS CCLI Objective for this

Workshop:

To do this: We need your help!

• What are the key IBM discoveries and ideas to get into our courses?

• What aspects of YOUR research need to be in front of students?

• Let’s work together to create some lessons! (We’ll start in the Thurs Eve. Breakout, and continue on Fri, Sat. (There are monies to facilitate…) Bring your laptops…

• Help us test the Mini-lessons! Try using some in your courses, and report back online.

MARGINS Science in the Classroom Future Events:

• AGU Fall Meeting Special Sessions: – ED 32A, ED 33B: New Directions in Undergraduate

Geoscience Education: Bringing Together Research, Education, and Technology in the Classroom and Field (oral; poster)

• Upcoming: AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting workshop (targeting S2S community), March 2008