T263 Practical Advice for In-Service and Pre-Service K–12 Earth Science Teacher Preparation and Professional Development (Posters)

Tuesday, 24 October 2017
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Halls 4EF

BUILDING ON 20 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL K-12 TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: REVAMPING THE AMS DATASTREME PROJECT

Paper number: T263-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

For more than 20 years, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education Program has been enhancing K-12 teacher preparation and practice, and ultimately student learning through the DataStreme Project.

The DataStreme Project is a professional development opportunity for in-service K-12 teachers. DataStreme Atmosphere, Ocean, and Earth’s Climate System are offered each fall and spring semester by Local Implementation Teams (LITs) across the country in coordination with AMS Education Program scientists and educators. The LITs, typically composed of an AMS-trained teacher leader, college faculty member, and federal operational scientist or AMS certified broadcaster, mentor a group of teachers through a course semester.

DataStreme courses empower teachers to implement STEM concepts in their classrooms by increasing their confidence and using real-world data and real-life events to deepen understanding of core science concepts. Approximately 20,000 teachers have completed one of these content-rich, pedagogically-sound courses and received tuition-free graduate credits from The College at Brockport, State University of New York.

In 2017, the AMS Education Program entered into a new agreement with California University of Pennsylvania to serve as their institutional partner for DataStreme to offer tuition-free graduate credits to participants.

Some changes have already occurred and there are many opportunities for further enhancement. Most noticeably to begin, DataStreme course resources are now available to participants through a learning management system (LMS). The use of a LMS enables LITs the opportunity to better engage their participants through the use of online discussion boards, video assignments, shared dropbox uploads, online surveys, digital assessment tools and rubrics, and collaborative small group work. The Fall 2017 semester was the first term to exploit the Desire to Learn (D2L) platform for course implementation. This presentation will include feedback and lessons learned from early use of new pedagogical tools.

The future of teacher professional development opportunities via the AMS DataStreme Project is bright as it evolves under new leadership and leverages new tools while staying rooted in its mission to increase public Earth science literacy.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-299623

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