DEVELOPING FUTURE TEACHERS’ ABILITIES AND MOTIVATIONS TO TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS THROUGH INFUSING SUSTAINABILITY AND EARTH LITERACY

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize how human activities affect the Earth and how Earth processes impact humans, introducing the concept of sustainability in the Earth and space sciences in high school. Most future teachers receive their Earth science preparation in a single introductory geoscience course, but the content and delivery methods of these courses is not well matched to the three-dimensional integration of knowledge (disciplinary core idas), skills (science and engineering practices), and cross-cutting concepts described in the NGSS. InTeGrate developed and tested curricular materials using a rubric-guided process that was designed using the same best practices as (and is thus well-aligned with) the NGSS. Assessments measured changes in Earth literacy and behaviors and motivations with use of the materials. Matched pre- and post-data were divided into three groups: those very likely, somewhat likely, and not likely to become teachers. The “very” group (n = 245) resembles the current STEM teacher workforce in gender distribution (~75% female) but is more diverse than the current workforce and the population currently enrolled in designated teacher preparation programs. The very group has higher initial rates of participation in sustainable behaviors, different motivations for engaging in those sustainable behaviors (ranking family and friends higher than the whole population), and is more likely to envision using their knowledge about sustainability in their career as teacher. The characteristics of this population suggest that emphasizing sustainability in introductory geoscience courses provides a means of effectively reaching this already motivated group and, as a result, better preparing future teachers to teach the NGSS.