USING INTERNET TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER AN INQUIRY-BASED EARTH SYSTEMS COURSE DESIGNED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS

The past decade has seen the exponential growth of the internet as a tool to deliver on-line instruction at all educational levels. Many first generation on-line courses employed strategies directly transferred from face to face lecture settings into an internet environment. As the knowledge base of instructional designers deepens courses are being designed with strategies designed to foster on-line learning communities and develop content knowledge in an atmosphere of inquiry. This is especially important in designing courses for K-12 teacher professional development. In order to support K-12 teacher professional development in science and aid in the implementation of Earth systems content and age appropriate pedagogical methods into their classrooms, an Earth systems science course for Middle School teachers has been developed by the Earth System Science Education Alliance. The course stresses the effects of various real-world events such as volcanoes, hurricanes, and destruction of rain forests on the lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere of the Earth. Teachers work in teams during week A of each cycle to research the impact of each event on individual spheres. In week B groups jigsaw to study the interactions between events, the spheres, and positive and negative feedback loops. During week C, teachers develop earth systems classroom activities for their own classrooms. Rubrics guide participants working together in group projects, and weekly personal journal activities foster reflective learning. Post course surveys indicate that the construction of this course designed around a learning cycle approach has helped Middle School teachers implement similar activities in their own K-12 classrooms