Project Ocean: K-12 Teacher Professional Development in Physical Oceanography
Abstract
The American Meteorological Society (AMS), in partnership with St. Mary#s College of Maryland (SMCM) and Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest), and with the assistance of the U.S. Navy, proposes a one-year program for the continued development and offering of Project Ocean: K-12 Teacher Professional Development in Physical Oceanography. The major objectives of this graduate-level professional development program are to: (1) educate 24 K-12 teachers through a three-credit graduate course encompassing a one-week summerresidence workshop and several weeks of related online learning; (2) further develop, refine, and disseminate instructional resource materials on physical oceanography topics for the Project Ocean course online learning, summer workshop, and post-workshop peer-training sessions conducted by the teacher participants; (3) enable Project Ocean alumni to take on leadership roles for AMS DataStreme teacher professional development courses; (4) support course participants in their conduct of peer-led training sessions for otherteachers; and (5) facilitate engagement of course alumni working to obtain the PennWest DataStreme Certificate and/or Certified AMSTeacher (CAT) certification. By increasing the scientific knowledge of teachers, Project Ocean is ultimately directed toward increasing Earth science literacy and attracting K-12 students, including those who are underserved, to STEM studies and careers.To achieve the objectives above, the program will provide substantive, long duration professional development within the Project Ocean coursefocused on physical oceanography. The course and specifically the associated residence workshop, to be held in summer 2023 for approximately 24 participants, will include lectures, laboratory-type investigations, and a research cruise involving hands-on experience with instrumentation. SMCM faculty will lead workshop instruction and PennWest will lead the supporting online portion of the summer course. Teacher participants will gain experience with Project Ocean modules, which they will use to conduct post-workshop peer-training sessions directed towards other precollege educators. Project Ocean workshop participants completing the workshop and onlineportions of the course and post-course outreach will earn three graduate credits through PennWest. The external evaluator will provide an assessment of the Project Ocean course, focusing on changes in content knowledge and pedagogical skills, and course impact. The project includes continued development and expansion of a national cadre of Project Ocean (and past Maury Project) peer trainers, who actively promote the teaching of oceanographic topics at the precollege level and may serve on DataStreme Mentor Teams. The proposed project will directly impact about 24 precollege teachers, 150-200 additional educators in the peer-training sessions, and hundreds of students. Project Ocean supports the ONR K-12 focus of #learning by doing,# increases reach and impact of the U.S. Navy, and reaches out to the Nation#s underserved populations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 24, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312666
Entities
People
- Charles Price
Organizations
- American Meteorological Society
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy