T98 Celebrating the Role of Heather Macdonald in Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges I

Monday, 23 September 2019
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 102AB, West Building

SAGE 2YC REGIONAL WORKSHOPS: DISSEMINATING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES, DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP, AND BUILDING COMMUNITIES

Paper number: T98-8
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:45 AM – 10:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

SAGE 2YC, a national professional development program for geoscience faculty from two-year colleges (2YCs), included two projects over 7 years of National Science Foundation funding. Each project offered multi-day national workshops led by project leaders followed by regional workshops led by participant teams. The first project offered two national workshops, Preparing Students in 2YCs for Geoscience Degrees and Careers and Supporting Student Success in 2YCs, and associated web resources (https://serc.carleton.edu/sage2yc/index.html). Following each national workshop, participants were offered an opportunity to work with a colleague to design and lead a one-day workshop in their region. The second project, Faculty as Change Agents, provided multi-year professional development related to supporting student success, facilitating students’ professional pathways, and broadening participation. Teams of faculty Change Agents led annual regional workshops over multiple years that addressed these themes. In each project, regional workshop leaders were supported by program leaders and staff as well as each other as they designed their workshops. Workshop design was influenced by the regional workshop leaders' own practice and workshop context such as location and participants (e.g., 2YC faculty, advisors, four-year institution faculty). Many adapted specific sessions from the national workshops.

The impact of the SAGE 2YC regional workshops has been both broad and deep. As of May 2019, 52 regional workshops have been offered to participants from 136 2YCs; 77% of the participants were from 2YCs and ~1/3 of the faculty who indicated their employment status were adjunct faculty, an often underserved population. Regional workshops are an effective approach for dissemination of educational practices beyond the national workshops; their recurrence over multiple years may be more effective than one-off workshops for promoting changes in practice. The regional workshops provide opportunities for faculty to develop leadership skills as they first participate in national workshops, make changes in their own practice, and then lead regional workshops. End of workshop evaluations indicate that faculty intend use what they learn and that these workshops also serve to build a community of practice among 2YC geoscience instructors in the regions.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-338447

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