UNDERGRADUATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE EDUCATION AND THE MUTUAL BENEFITS OF COMMINGLED PRE-SERVICE/IN-SERVICE PROGRAMS

Pre-service teachers are commonly overlooked in the development and implementation of professional development (PD) programs in Earth and Space Science Education. However, undergraduate students can be important resources in providing PD and can benefit as participants in commingled PD with in-service colleagues.

Three groups of pre-service teachers from the SUNY College at Oneonta have conducted successful PD workshops at Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) conferences. The first workshop grew from a class project which focused on a perennial problem with part of the lab practical portion of the New York State Regents Examination in Earth Science. These students resolved the problem and presented their results in a workshop at STANYS (2000) and a sectional meeting in 2001. The project results were adopted by the State Education Department in a revision of the directions for the lab practical.

Two pre-service teachers helped develop a dynamic, two cell convection model which was presented at STANYS (2003) and published in The Science Teacher, an NSTA journal (Ebert, et. al., 2004). A class project which developed an apparatus and lesson plan to confront students' misconceptions regarding the cause of Earth's seasons was presented in 2005. Evaluations of all three workshops by the in-service teachers that participated were overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that pre-service teachers can be effective providers of PD.

Pre-service teachers derive numerous benefits from participation in PD with in-service teachers. For example, undergraduates that attend conferences report increases in knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, confidence and their own sense of professionalism.

Two pre-service teachers participated in developing the New York State Instructional Collection, the first state-based collection in DLESE. These pre-service teachers contributed enthusiasm, student perspectives on the effectiveness of different pedagogies and expertise with technology. In return, they derived ideas for their classrooms, valuable professional contacts and extraordinary recognition in their first year of teaching. Both are currently involved in a follow-up project. Early PD as pre-service teachers may be an important factor in developing the leadership potential of these teachers.