What Works

The teacher workshops provided up-to-date information through guided inquiry activities and lectures delivered by science experts. Learning activities and lectures were organized in themes and delivered as 2.5-day training sessions, or professional development academies (PDAs), designed to help teachers and students make connections between Earth Science and their everyday lives. The content of each academy was designed to increase the teachers’ knowledge, not to demonstrate student activities.

The complete professional development program comprised four different 2.5-day professional development academies (PDAs) taken over a two-year period, and optional one or two-week summer institutes. Teachers committed to attending four training academies over two years (minimum of 96 hours), allowing them to assimilate and integrate what they learned into their classrooms, and share experiences with colleagues.

Teachers came each time with the same cohort, and through team learning and social activities, formed strong bonds that stretched across the state.  Back home in the classroom, these teachers and collaborated together and acted as a resource and support for each other.

Visiting scientists and educators from organizations such as NAGT, ANDRILL, IRIS, UNAVCO, EarthScope, IODP, GLOBE, and Ridge2K presented material. In addition, scientists, faculty and graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences gave presentations about their research.

Teachers use active learning strategies in their classrooms; putting them as learners in an active environment demonstrates good pedagogy and helps them see how they can use their knowledge in their classrooms. Many teachers shared what they have learned in the PDAs with other teachers through project-related outreach. Other teachers became involved more deeply in ancillary research, such as SIEDCAR, or curriculum development projects such as EarthLabs and Water Exploration.

In order to be sure we were meeting the needs of teachers, ongoing evaluation helped shape the format and content of the academies that followed.