FROM WINGSPREAD TO WIDER: MY JOURNEY LEARNING ABOUT EVALUATION

The "Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences" workshop was held in July 2002 at the Wingspread Conference Center. The twenty workshop participants represented experts from within and outside the geosciences who met to consider how research on learning could improve learning in the geosciences. The timing of the workshop coincided with the funding of the CCLI National Dissemination project, and in the years since the Wingspread workshop, the "On the Cutting Edge" program has produced and disseminated resources and led workshops on the role of metacognition in teaching geoscience. At the time of the workshop I was a relatively new rotating program director at the National Science Foundation in the Division of Undergraduate Education and my awareness about research on learning was limited. While the workshop did not make me an expert in this field, it certainly raised my awareness about and was the catalyst that ultimately led to the development of an evaluation method for Buffalo State's summer research program. The method involves multiple assessments for 11 outcome categories each defined by 3-4 components. It involves repeated structured interactions between students and mentors to help students identify strengths and areas for improvement. The method fosters student reflection and helps them identify content knowledge and skills they desire to improve. With funding from the NSF WIDER program, EvaluateUR is currently being scaled up for adoption by institutions across the U.S. The journey from Wingspread to WIDER highlights my growing awareness of metacognition and its influence on learning.