Back to list of UTIG abstract submissions, Fall Agu 2003

Ellins, K.¹, Ganey-Curry, P.¹, and Fennell, T.^2
1The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, 4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Building 600, Austin, TX 78759
²The Liberal Arts and Science Academy of Austin @ LBJ High School, 7309 Lazy Creek Drive, Austin, TX, 78724

The University of Texas at Austin Insitute for Geophysics (UTIG) is engaged in K-12 education at outreach through a variety of programs, including two NSF-sponsored projects - GK-12: An Interactive Program Linking Graduate Fellows with K-12 Students and Teachers and Cataclysms and Catastrophes: The Role of Science in Natural and Human-induced Disasters - Texas Teachers in the Field, Adopt-a-School, Geoscience in the Classroom (sponsored by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board), and The University of Texas Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program. The GK-12 Program is at the center of UTIG’s effort and serves to link the various education projects together. Although the specific objectives of each project are different, the broad goals of UTIG’s education and outreach program are to provide high-quality professional development for teachers, develop curriculum resources that are aligned with state and national education standards, and promote meaningful interaction between teachers, scientists, graduate students, and science educators.

To achieve these goals, UTIG has forged formal partnerships with scientific colleagues at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, the Marine Science Institute and the Department of Geological Sciences; science educators at The University of Texas Charles A. Dana Center and in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in College of Education at The University of Texas; teachers in six Texas independent school districts; and 4empowerment.com, a private education company that established the Cyberways and Waterways Web site to integrate technology and education through an environmentally-based curriculum. In the past year, these partnerships have allowed UTIG to achieve far more than would have been possible through individual projects. Examples include (1) the development of six learning modules with 18 inquiry-based activities for the Cataclysms and Catastrophes project and four modules with 11 activities on the theme, Uncovering Madagascar from the Ground Up with UTIG’s "adopted school"; (2) hosting four workshops and one nine-day summer institute; and (3) participation in several workshops and science fairs. UTIG has expanded the impact of its education and outreach program and achieved broader dissemination of project learning activities through 4empowerment’s web-based programs, which reach more than 200 teachers and about 50,000 ethnically diverse students (about 58% Hispanic, 30% Anglo, and 12% African American) in 23 school districts and 45 schools across Texas. These partnerships have also helped UTIG and 4empowerment to secure additional funding for other education projects. Finally, UTIG has helped sustain educational innovation locally through informal partnerships with the Texas Education Agency, the entity through which the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education oversee the public education system of Texas, the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching, a robust state-based science education alliance, and UTeach, a program to recruit, prepare and support the next generation of math and science teachers at The University of Texas at Austin.

Geological Sciences to create the Geoscience Alliance, a state-based K-16 geoscience education alliance a partnership led by the newly formed Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. The Geoscience Alliance will promote Earth science education within Texas K-12 schools, junior colleges, community colleges, and private and public universities.