IMPROVING K-12 GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS

The University of Texas at Austin Institute 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 local schools, scientific and education colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin and Rice University, a private education company, and a state-based education alliance, the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching. These partnerships have allowed UTIG to achieve far more than would have been possible through individual projects alone.