WORKSHOP FOR EARLY CAREER GEOSCIENCE FACULTY: TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND MANAGING ONE’S CAREER

Nearly 1000 participants have attended the Workshop for Early Career Geoscience Faculty since it was first offered in 1999. The annual multi-day workshop and associated web site (http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer) use a holistic approach to prepare faculty to teach, to conduct research, to make strategic plans, and to manage professional responsibilities in balance with personal lives. All sessions are interactive, model effective teaching, and are structured to support participants learning from each other – practices that contribute to the success and impact of the workshop.

The Early Career workshop was the first workshop offered through the On the Cutting Edge program, having already been developed and offered four times prior to its start. The design and implementation of the workshop is the result of extensive planning, preparation, and reflection by an evolving team of leaders. The combination of repeat and new leaders each year has facilitated the training of new leaders and the generation of new ideas. New ideas have led to the addition of an NSF visit day, individual consultations, and sessions offered for proposal reviews, teaching activity reviews, metacognition, supporting diversity and inclusion in the classroom, strategic decisions for a successful career, time management, networking, and others. Repeated themes from the first iteration of the workshop include course design, active learning techniques, strategic planning, and the poster session on the final day. Many of the workshop leaders are former participants who benefitted from the workshop earlier in their careers.

Early Career Workshop participants are from across the geoscience disciplines and include faculty at associate-, bachelors-, masters-, and Ph.D.- granting institutions. The percentage of women (~50%) and participants from under-represented groups (~8%) are higher than in the geoscience faculty population. Assessment of the workshop indicates a positive influence toward changes in teaching practices among participants. Collectively, participants report that they will incorporate evidence-based teaching in their classrooms, have an enlarged network of support, have the resources needed to enable them to succeed, and are better prepared to move forward with their careers as a result of the workshop.