DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CURRICULUM FOR A LAB-BASED, INTRODUCTORY EARTH SCIENCE COURSE FOR FUTURE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: HOW FACULTY FROM A REGIONAL UNIVERSITY AND LOCAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES WORK TOGETHER TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A COMMON GEOLOGY COURSE

The North Cascades Olympic Science Partnership (NCOSP) is a coalition between twenty-nine K-12 school districts in northwest Washington State and five higher education partners: Western Washington University (WWU), Skagit Valley College, Whatcom Community College, Everett Community College, and the Northwest Indian College. Because one of the partnership's goals is to enhance the science content and pedagogical training of future K-12 teachers, the higher education partners developed a yearlong science sequence that specifically targets elementary education majors. Inclusion of the 2-year college partners was deemed essential because about half the students who go on to a teacher preparation program at WWU fulfill their undergraduate science requirements at community colleges before transferring. The collaboration of about twenty higher education faculty has produced three new quarter-long courses in the sciences, with one quarter each of Earth, Physical, and Life Sciences.

The Earth Science faculty group initially focused on selecting a few “Big Ideas” essential for elementary teachers to master. These Big Ideas were winnowed down to six conceptual areas: observation and inference in Earth Science, relationship between density and surface relief, Earth interior and plate tectonics, nature of rocks and minerals, geologic time, and atmospheric processes. The Big Ideas were then incorporated into curriculum units, or cycles, with each cycle authored by one or more faculty; every partner college was represented by at least one faculty during the writing process. By choosing a Big Ideas list, we jettisoned many traditional components of Earth Science survey courses, but we intended that the Big Ideas would be covered by hands-on, inquiry based instruction which can be time intensive. After pilot testing, we have truncated the Big Ideas list further, essentially removing atmosphere studies and reducing geologic time investigation to homework.

The curriculum is in its third revision. All five higher education partners have now piloted the course on their campuses at least twice. Another pilot group of practicing K-12 science teachers took the course during a summer workshop. Ongoing assessment efforts show significant gains both in conceptual understanding and in developing a scientific way of thinking.