BROADER IMPACTS AND EVALUATION: AN ENTRY POINT TO ENGAGE PHYSICAL SCIENTISTS IN DISCUSSIONS OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH

The response to the call for participation in the 2015 ENGAGE workshop, and data from the program evaluation illustrates that a broad community of early-career physical scientists, including Atmosphere, Oceans, Solid Earth, and Polar scientists, are interested in learning more about geoscience education research (GER) and are supportive of work in the field. For some, this is in spite of dissuasion from colleagues or mentors. Early-career faculty began their careers in the era of broader impacts and value the geoscience education community as a resource for their teaching and outreach activities.

Broader Impacts is a prime entry point to GER for early-career physical scientists because it offers the opportunity to earn credit for their efforts through publication of evaluation results. Many may not be aware of the distinctions and overlapping attributes of evaluation and research. As part of the 2015 ENGAGE workshop for early career geoscientists, we used case studies to facilitate understanding of the complex landscape of evaluation and research of geoscience education. This exercise, conducted in heterogeneous groups of physical scientists and GERs, provided the former with an entry point into the conversation using descriptions of Broader Impacts projects.

Engaging with physical scientists could also be important for growing the field of GER. First, this community offers skills and competencies that could generate new research agendas for GER. Second, buy in from physical scientists in the geoscience community is critical for issues of promotion and tenure. Through evaluation of Broader Impacts activities of their proposals, physical scientists could be a source of new colleagues and collaborators for the GER community. This presentation will include a summary of the ENGAGE early-career participants regarding GER, examples of evaluation and research, and suggestions for building partnerships between physical scientists and GERs.