TEACHING DUAL-CREDIT PHYSICAL GEOLOGY TO BOTH RURAL AND URBAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TEXAS: A UNIVERSITY, JUNIOR COLLEGE, AND SCHOOL DISTRICT COLLABORATION

The Jackson School of Geosciences at UT Austin has, for 5 years, run a program called GeoFORCE Texas, in which we take high school students from rural SW Texas, and inner-city Houston on geologic field trips in the summer, exposing them to geology, and encouraging them to matriculate in college. The program enrolls over 500 students. As an extension of this effort, I am teaching a dual credit Physical Geology class targeting these students and their peers. The class is on-line, with lectures and course materials delivered through Blackboard, and a local teacher as facilitator. We supply books, lab kits, and teacher training. Schools provide computers, space, and a teacher, some of whom know some geology; some do not. I interact with the students via their submitted assignments, e-mail, and in an internet chat room. The curriculum is standard Physical Geology, spread out over a full year, with extensions looking at current issues in geology. Students receive 6 credit hours, including 4 hours in Physical Geology. In their high school, they receive a full year of science credit. The course was first offered last spring in SW Texas only; the lessons learned there have been incorporated as we expand the program to a full year, and to include Houston this academic year. The course is set up somewhat differently in our two different regions. In Southwest Texas, we partner with Southwest Texas Junior College to deliver the class to the 21 school districts in their service region. These districts vary in size from tiny (250 students K-12) to small (14,000 students K-12). SWTJC has built a strong partnership with these schools, especially in math and science outreach, and we use that relationship to deliver the course. The students enroll at SWTJC, which, in turn, contracts with UT to deliver the course through them. It is, I think, a unique partnership between a community college and a university to deliver content to high schools. Tuition at SWTJC is paid by the State. In Houston, one of the largest school districts in the country (200,000 students K-12), students enroll directly with UT through the K-16 education center. Tuition is at a reduced rate, and the school district pays it. Through this program we are reaching schools that have difficulty hiring science teachers and a student population that is traditionally underrepresented in the geosciences.