AN EARTH SCIENCES DISTANCE-LEARNING MODEL FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS IN THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION AT MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

The Master of Science in Science Education (MSSE) program at Montana State University (http://btc.montana.edu/nten/sciedmasters.shtml) includes Earth sciences as a component. In service teachers must take courses in two sciences, courses in education core, and select elective courses in education, mathematics or science. MSSE students are required to attend a summer session on campus at the start of the program. This campus session provides opportunities for the students and faculty to meet. In Earth Sciences, the first summer provides an opportunity for guided field study. The students return to campus in the summer at the end of their program of study to present a capstone project. Course work between the first and last summer are taken by distance education and are open to non-MSSE students. The courses are offered throughout the year. These courses are taught as asynchronous computer seminars. Students obtain their assignments, do exercises (including field exercises near their school), and enter into discussions via the computer at their convenience within a specified number of days. There is no regularly scheduled meeting time but discussion participation is required as it would be in a seminar on campus. Exercises are completed using data gathered from the world wide web, and from field sites near where the teacher's students live. The teachers are asked to develop a lesson plan which is shared with others in the class. Earth Science courses include Northern Rocky Mountain Landscapes, Plains Landscapes, Electronic Hydrology, Hydrology of Streams and Lakes, and Mountains and Plains Riparian Processes. The courses are built around the habits of the scientific mind articulated by Project 2061. Although the course work can lead to an Master of Science in Science Education, students who are not in the program may also take these graduate level courses. The goal of the program is to provide sound Earth science content and education content for in-service teachers where the teachers live.