TEACHING IN THE FIELD: GATHERING THE COLLECTIVE EXPERTISE

Field trips are widely recognized as an important motivational and instructional tool in the geosciences at all levels, but we rarely discuss how field experiences are designed in order to meet specific learning goals. The new NSF-funded Teaching in the Field website from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (www.nagt.org/nagt/field/) provides a venue for educators to showcase their work in designing field trips. This community project aims to facilitate interaction and sharing of expertise in order to 1) promote models for effective educational field trips to the NAGT membership as well as geoscientists around the world and 2) provide an archive of field guides furthering the ability of K-12 teachers, faculty, community groups, and others to lead scientifically accurate, pedagogically effective field trips.

Beyond holding a collection of unpublished field guides, the site provides users with the pedagogical underpinnings of each trip, including the appropriate context for the trip, the learning goals for the students, as well as special design and logistics notes. There are also links to other appropriate resources such as Journal of Geoscience Education articles and websites like Starting Point (serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/) and Integrating Research and Education (serc.carleton.edu/research_education/).

We are currently soliciting contributions from community members who have experience leading field trips for a variety of audiences, K-12 through professional society. The small initial collection shows the range of examples we are trying to collect, including field trips for introductory classes running from a period to several days in length, workshop style field experiences for teachers, and professional development opportunities for faculty at professional society meetings.