OPPORTUNITIES FOR GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCHERS IN TWO-YEAR COLLEGE TECHNICAL EDUCATION

PETCOVIC, Heather L., Department of Geosciences and The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5241, HENDERSON, Charles, Physics Department, Western Michigan University, 1903 West Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, FYNEWEVER, Herb, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Calvin College, 3201 Burton SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, RITCHIE, Liesel A., Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80304 and KRYGER, Andrea, The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, 3225 Wood Hall, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, heather.petcovic@wmich.edu

The NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is a leading funding source for promoting innovations in technical education. Operating primarily within two-year colleges, the ATE program has funded a wide variety of projects since its initiation in 1994. Recently, the NSF has identified a need for more targeted research studies related to outcomes of these projects and to technical education in general. This recent push for more education research within the ATE program opens new opportunities for geoscience education researchers. During the past two years, we have participated in the Discovering the Educational Consequences of ATE (DECA) project, a collaborative project designed to build educational research capacity within the ATE community. Drawing from our experiences in this study, we introduce the ATE program, describe educational research opportunities within ATE, and provide an overview of the DECA project. We also describe our study within the DECA project – a multi case study of the impacts of three mature National ATE Centers on their home institutions and related issues of center sustainability. We conclude that diversification is a key element behind a center's impact on its home institution and its prospects for sustainability.

Session No. 248--Booth# 68

Geoscience Education (Posters)

Wednesday, 3 November 2010: 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

Hall D (Colorado Convention Center)

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 42, No. 5, p.589

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