NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GEOSCIENCE TEACHERS: SUPPORTING FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

Supporting faculty development is an important part of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) member-driven organization. NAGT offers a variety of opportunities for faculty development including two publications, workshop programming, three topical focused divisions, and website offerings hosted through the Science Education Resource Center (SERC). These faculty development opportunities offer a wide range of ways to assist faculty with transforming the classroom.

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers is experiencing a surge in membership and much of this is being driven by faculty development opportunities for the geoscience education community. NAGT offers both a peer reviewed journal (Journal of Geoscience Education) and a news magazine (In The Trenches), giving members of the geoscience education community two well-respected places to publish their research and activities. The NAGT website and the linked websites of its collaborating partners provides yet another peer reviewed venue for educators to showcase their pedagogy and to learn best practices of others. Locating and connecting members of the geoscience education community with shared values and interest is an important part of the networking component of faculty development and NAGT’s topical divisions assist community members who wish to work on the topics of 2 year college faculty, geoscience education research, and teacher preparation. For those educators who are looking for expertise to come to their door, NAGT offers a traveling workshop program with two tracks: one with a departmental focus and the other with a focus on course design. Through these activities NAGT is working to support faculty development as educators work to transform their classrooms.

NAGT is a non-profit organization that advocates for the advancement of the geosciences and supports the work of geoscience educators and geoscience education researchers. For more information about NAGT, visit our website at www.nagt.org.