Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education, Outreach and Workforce Program
Abstract
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl® (NOSB®) is a nationally recognized and highly acclaimed high school academic competition. The NOSB provides a forum for talented students to excel in science and math and introduces team members, their teacher/coaches, schools and communities to ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible future career path. Importantly, the NOSB fills an educational and societal need to provide real-world context for STEM learning and to build an ocean science related workforce and a public that is knowledgeable of the roles that a healthy ocean plays in our daily lives. The program operates within a supportive ocean science learning community framework that involves the research community in pre-college education and stimulates broad interest in and excitement about science and the ocean. Established in the Year of the Ocean (1998) and managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the NOSB is a timed competition in which student teams answer questions within multiple categories related to the ocean. Each fall, participating high schools register and prepare their teams for one of the 25 regional competitions held across the United States, with the winner from each region advancing to the National Finals Competition. In 2014, 329 teams (approximately 1,645 students) from 34 states and the District of Columbia participated in the regional competitions, as well as roughly 1,000 volunteers from the ocean science community. Over the past 17 years, the program has encouraged 27,000 students and teachers to pursue ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible future career path. The NOSB is widely recognized as meeting a primary objective of the ocean science community to cultivate the next generation of scientists, and having quality competition questions from the science community increases the program’s credibility and the students’ sustained interest. Over the 17 years of the program, investment from Federal agencies and non-federal partners has made it possible for the NOSB to develop into a comprehensive ocean science learning community. The current program structure layers a rich array of year-round academic elements onto the basic competition framework and offers a range of program enhancements. These elements and enhancements include summer educational trips that provide hands-on research experience, scholarships to encourage NOSB alumni to continue their focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields in college, teacher professional development seminars to help teachers stay current on ocean science research, and an online quiz game that allows the program to reach a broader and more diverse community. The structure of the competition itself has been strengthened by the addition of Team Challenge Questions (TCQs) that focus on critical-thinking and teamwork and the Science Expert Briefing (SEB), which illustrates to students the importance of quality science in policy decisions. A long-term study of the NOSB alumni has found that: 45% of graduates stated they are employed in an occupation or organization that is clearly STEM related; 41% agreed that participating in the NOSB influenced their career choice; and 39% indicated that the NOSB influenced their choice of college major. Our 2014 annual regional survey of NOSB coaches, who are professional secondary educators, found: 94% agreed that the NOSB increased competing students interest in science; 78% agreed being an NOSB coach has resulted in them increasing the infusion of ocean sciences in their classrooms; and at least 33 schools/districts have implemented a marine science class due directly to the high school’s participation in the NOSB.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512050
Entities
People
- Kristen Yarincik
Organizations
- Consortium for Ocean Leadership
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy