T319 Geoscience Education and Outreach: 50 Years of Progress I

Wednesday, 30 October 2013
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 404

A QUICK SURVEY OF A HALF-CENTURY OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION IN TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

Paper number: T319-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:40 AM – 8:55 AM

Authors

Abstract

Geoscience education in Two-year colleges (2YC) began about 20 years after the Community College system started with Joliet Junior College in Illinois in 1901. Geosciences in 2YC’s thrived under the leadership of Dottie Stout, who was a Professor at Cypress College, a 2YC, for nearly 3 decades and was pivotal in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) and the Geological Society of America (GSA). Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary, and others have continued Dottie Stout’s work by convening 2YC geoscience education planning workshops at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Headquarters in 2000 and at Northern Virginia Community College-Annandale in 2010. From this 2010 workshop, Bob Blodgett directed the formation of Geo2YC, the first professional organization devoted to advocating for geoscience education in 2YC’s, and is the first Division of NAGT. Continued engagement, networking and improvement of the geosciences in 2YC’s has been directed by the ongoing Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-year Colleges (SAGE 2YC) through national and local workshops. These recent activities and advancements have been made possible through the generous support of the NSF.

Although much is known about the demographics of students at 2YC’s, there is little data on the teaching of geosciences at 2YC’s. As one of the objectives of Geo2YC is to advocate for the Geo2YC community, we need to know who we are, how geosciences are taught, and by whom geosciences are taught at 2YC’s. To that end, Geo2YC conducted a short nationwide survey of 2YC geoscience instructors in the Spring of 2013. Questions were asked about instructor background, the courses they teach, their needs and frustrations, and their institution. Results and preliminary analyses of this survey will be presented and compared to previous surveys of geosciences in 2YC’s by GSA and the American Geological Institute (AGI).