ADDRESSING THE GEOENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXTS IN CONSTRUCTIVIST FIELD-BASED GEOSCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION

The geoenvironmental setting of Puerto Rico, a complex island arc terrane with a geologic record spanning approximately 195 million years, was used to design a field-based professional development geoscience education institute for in-service science teachers during the summer of 2006. The institute was framed on social constructivism and the use of local and regional geoenvironmental and sociocultural contexts at the core of instruction. Inquiry-based activities at the field focused on participants' interaction with geologic features of the ultramafic basement, igneous provinces, and the karstic and coastal regions of Puerto Rico. Classroom activities were focused on studying rocks, the Earth's structure, maps and geomorphology, the development of curricular materials, and modeling constructivist teaching approaches. A mixed methods research design was used to study the effects of the institute's activities upon 26 secondary school science teachers' conceptual understanding, perceptions on fieldwork, beliefs about teaching geoscience, and lesson development at school. Qualitative data included questionnaires, interviews, reflective journals, pre-post concept maps, and pre-post lesson plans. The Geoscience Concept Inventory and the Science Outdoor Learning Environment Inventory were translated into Spanish and culturally validated to collect quantitative data. Data analysis followed a constructivist grounded theory methodology and included descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Results indicate an improvement of participants' understanding of geoscience concepts, content, and processes related to the study of rocks, the Earth's structure, plate tectonics, maps, and the geology of Puerto Rico. Participants also improved their geoscience teaching beliefs, perceptions on field-based education, and reflected on their environmental awareness and social responsibility. The constructivist learning environment and the institute's contextualized conceptual model were effective in generating interest and confidence in geoscience teaching and learning. As a result, various recommendations were made to effectively implement geoscience teacher education programs in Puerto Rico and internationally.