Organizers announce a call for applications to the Encouraging Networks between Geoscience and Geoscience Education (ENGAGE) Workshop. It will be held 18-20 January 2015 in Arlington, Virginia.
Significant advances in both the geosciences and in STEM education have taken place in recent years, such that early-career professionals face a different and evolving landscape of what we teach, how we teach, and how we communicate the broader impacts of our research. Adding urgency to the task is the projection of an increased need for geoscientists and professionals with an understanding of geoscience, due to anticipated retirements from the baby-boomer generation and job growth in geoscience-related careers. In response, the National Science Foundation is funding a workshop to bring together early-career researchers to explore collaborative approaches that leverage advances in both geoscience disciplines (earth, atmospheric, ocean, and polar sciences) and in geoscience education. These relationships are critical for two reasons: (1) to address the foundational educational research needed on how people learn geoscience content and develop into expert geoscientists, and (2) to facilitate early career geoscientists in enhancing the broader impacts of their geoscience research.
The workshop will include a combination of plenary talks, panelist presentations, group discussions and time for networking and collaboration. Early career geoscience researchers and discipline based education researchers (DBERs) will each bring important expertise to the workshop. The geoscience researchers can provide content specific instructional challenges and classroom/student access, while DBERs bring a knowledge of methodologies to study those challenges. Both groups will have the opportunity to develop new collaborations, with geoscience researchers gaining an understanding of the DBER process, and ideas for broadening the impact of their research, while DBERs will gain a better understanding of content challenges in the geosciences.
This workshop is open to 40 people by application, and travel and workshop costs will be covered for all selected participants.
Application deadline: Friday, 7 November 2014.
For further information and to apply, please visit the conference website through the link above.
For questions, please contact:
Nicole LaDue Email: nladue [at] niu.edu
Michael Hubenthal Email: hubenth [at] iris.edu