CREATING A BUZZ IN THE CLASSROOM: PROVEN TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATING NASA EARTH SCIENCE VISUALIZATIONS, MULTIMEDIA AND INTERACTIVES INTO TWO-YEAR COLLEGE COURSES

The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums – consisting of four Forums: Earth, Astrophysics, Heliophysics, and Planetary Sciences- were established in October 2009 to engage a broader community of science and E/PO professionals in K–20 E/PO related to NASA's Science Mission Directorate. In 2011, the Forum identified engagement of faculty at two-year and community colleges, otherwise unconnected with NASA initiatives, as a primary focus for its higher education efforts. As a first step, the Forum has identified compelling college-level resources, appropriate for implementation in freshman and sophomore classrooms. Two of these resources are featured that have been developed by two-year college faculty, as examples of how diverse backgrounds- differences in high school science preparation as well as cultural and linguistic backgrounds- are accommodated and honored in a multimedia classroom approach employing NASA’s digital resources, with accompanying positive learning outcomes.