A Tale of Two Scientists

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A Tale of Two Scientists AGU Conference Janice
McDonnell Institute of Marine Coastal Sciences
Rutgers University
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Presentation Outline

• Educators and Scientists Nature of collaboration
• The Best of times, the worst of times.A tale
  of the COOL room scientists
• The age of wisdom, the age of foolishnessA
  tale of the challenges and future of scientist
  educator collaboration

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Scientist Educator Collaborations

• Challenge by NSF Criterion II How can you
• Advance discovery while promoting teaching,
  training, and learning
• Broaden participation of underrepresented groups
• Enhance infrastructure for research and
  education
• Disseminate your science to benefit society

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What do scientists think about their role in
education and outreach?

• Respondents (N 80) stated the benefits to having
  scientists involved in public education are
• present the benefits and relevance of research
  (26)
• focus awareness on environmental issues (26),
• serve as models for teachers and motivators for
  children (25) and
• increase public understanding, awareness and
  appreciation of science (about 22).

Data Source MACOSEE, C.Parsons 2004
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Case Study Scientists in the COOLroom Phase 1
The Research In 1993, Scientists at the
Institute of Marine Coastal Sciences (IMCS) at
Rutgers University set up a Coastal
Observatory Concerns focused on distributing and
archiving data
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The Long-term Ecosystem Observatory (LEO)
Birds Eye View
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On the Path to Public Availability of Data
Products
Initial data distribution -- Monthly reports
summarizing the data on an FTP site. A new
approach to data distribution - Keith Bedford
(Ohio State University) approached us with a
concept known as the World Wide Web. - He
claimed he could get 30 hits a month!
Marine Remote Sensing Webpage circa 1994 (We
werent even COOL yet!)
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Early Days Education Outreach
Our first education Web page!!! 10K seed grant
and 1 undergraduate student
CIESEwww.k12science.org
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Scientist Educator Partnerships Assessment _at_
Phase 1
Grade C-
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Phase II Thencame funding and staff commitment
to research education

Growth of technology utilization and
collaboration among disciplines
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1997-1999 NOPP Funded Effort To develop an
integrated set of educational programs that
capitalize on the research and technological
assets of an underwater observatory.
Field Research Experience
Research at LEO-15
Classroom Applications
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Professional Development Program

• 1. Introduction to the Internet
• Real time data in the classroom
• Collaborative projects
• 2. Exploring the Ocean from the Bottom Up and
  Top Down
• Immersion in current research at LEO
• Phytoplankton community dynamics

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Summary Statistics Year Two of our NOPP grant

• 56 educators trained
• 1,680 educators trained through extended
  workshops
• 7 Pilot Learning Modules developed (Web based)
• 30 Hands-on activities developed for the
  classroom
• 300 students (5-12 grade) completed pilot of at
  least two LEO Internet modules

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• Evaluation Program
• Goal Measure the change in participant
  knowledge, perception
• and behavior over the course of the program
• Evaluation tools were designed by Word Craft
• Pre-Institute and Post-Institute survey
• Formative interviews
• Teaching Unit Description
• Follow-up phone interviews

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1998 Evaluation Results
Successful in providing access to new and useful
scientific information. Successful in improving
confidence in using the Internet and
demonstrating that the Internet is more than
just a passive research tool. Less successful
in significantly increasing the participant's
confidence in using real-time data sets from the
LEO.
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1999 Evaluation Results
91 of the participants indicated that their
personal confidence in marine science content
increased overall. 100 of the participants
responded feeling confident to very confident in
presenting the LEO modules 45 of the
participants used the Internet in their classroom
for student research, collaborative projects,
posting and sharing student work and for science
labs.
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NOPP Funded Experiments Forged Scientist
Educator Partnerships
Meet the Scientists Celebration Picnic at
Richard Stockton College (see attached
map) Thursday July 16, 1998 700 p.m. - 900
p.m. Entertainment Valerie Vaughn - Folk Singer
Menu Steamers, Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Chicken
etc. Please R.S.V.P to Janice X521 or Cathy X519
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Scientist Educator Partnerships Assessment _at_
Phase 2
Grade B
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Phase III Then came a second education grant
from NOPP
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2003 National Evaluation of COOL Classroom in
Middle and High School Classrooms
Outcome 10b. Did you gain a better
understanding of what scientists do by using this
website?
Objective Create virtual access (interface) for
middle and high school teachers/students to COOL
room scientists to improve understanding and
awareness of coastal ocean science research.
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2003 National Evaluation of COOL Classroom in
Middle and High School Classrooms
Outcome
Objective To develop a suite of 6-12 grade
level appropriate on-line lesson plans that use
real-time data from the COOL to enhance science
learning (i.e., use inquiry based learning
strategies).
b. I found the website lessons easy to integrate
into my curriculum.
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COOL Informal Education Projects
Rutgers Science Pages Series of 3 Observatory
Related Full Page Science Articles 3rd Place
Winner On Associated Press National Competition
Public exhibits Life on the Edge Tuckerton, NJ
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Where are we now?
3 Websites, each serving a different audience Run
by Observatory Technologies - 2
Faculty - 1 Operational Director - 6
Technical staff - 1 Program Coordinator
Outreach Education - 1 Associate Director of
Education Outreach - 1 Education
Coordinator - 1 Communication
Specialist Supported through peer-reviewed
grants from federal, private, and state agencies
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Scientist Educator Partnerships Assessment _at_
Phase 3
Grade A-
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Phase IV. COSEE

• Design and implement products and services that
  help establish productive collaborations between
  scientists and educators.
• Develop opportunities for community college
  faculty, K-12 educators, and the public to use
  real-time data from coastal observing systems in
  ways that stimulate interest and understanding of
  the ocean.

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Scientist Connections www.macosee.net

• Helps scientists produce worthwhile education
  projects to complement and enrich their research

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Building Pathways Productive Partnerships
Between Scientists and Educators

• One-day workshop
• Main objective to bring scientists and educators
  together to discuss effective facilitation of
  productive scientist-educator partnerships
• 22 scientists and educators from across the U.S.
  participated
• From the Preliminary Evaluation Results
• 95 stated they had gained a new understanding of
  science learning
• 86 said they were leaving with more contacts and
  networking opportunities
• 64 said they were leaving with concrete ideas on
  building pathways

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• Conclusions
• Scientists in general, welcome involvement in EO
• Educators seek/support the collaboration of
  scientists in EO
• There are issues of time and that can be
  addressed with proper planning and attention
• The COOL room scientists case study offers some
  insight on building productive partnerships
• V. COSEE offers the opportunity to open a
  national dialogue among ocean scientists and
  educators on how to build productive
  partnerships.