T110 Celebrating the Role of Heather Macdonald in Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges (Posters)

Monday, 23 September 2019
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Hall AB, North Building

DEVELOPING HIGH IMPACT TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES THROUGH SAGE 2YC WORKSHOPS: A REVIEW

Paper number: T110-8
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

SAGE 2YC (Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges) workshops have provided effective professional development experiences for many in the two-year college geoscience community. I have modified my teaching and student outreach, in part, because of the SAGE 2YC workshops and the structure they gave me to explore new ways of teaching and learning in the geosciences. The workshops helped me think of different aspects of the student experience that might hinder student learning: How to mitigate stereotype threat and solo status, how to support first generation college students and English language learners, and the importance of universal design to help all students became a basis for how I begin and conduct class, write my syllabus, and develop assignments. Being with a cohort of other two-year college geoscience faculty was one of the most beneficial aspects of the workshops. Not only were we learning from each other, but the SAGE workshops were developing two-year geoscience faculty to be agents of change, whether in their classrooms or in their department, college, or greater community. I have included community based learning/service learning (a high impact strategy) in my courses and am among a growing number to do so at my college. I started an annual Women in STEM career panel as part of our college's March Women's History Month celebration. I am on the steering committee for "Math & Science Matter .... Especially for Young Women," co-sponsored by my department to give local girls in grades 4 - 8 the chance to participate in STEM workshops. We added parent workshops in information literacy, financial aid, college admissions issues, and student support services (including disability services) to help parents better support students. We plan to add an event for girls in grades 9 - 12 with longer workshops. My department submitted GeoPath grant applications in two different grant cycles. I have worked collaboratively with an English professor and a Behavioral Science professor to create a learning community for freshmen taking Earth Science, Composition I, and Social Problems, and it incorporates community based learning/service learning.

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

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-340816

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