Partnership to Advance Diversity in Geoscience Education

National Hispanic University, Llc, San Jose CA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports a two-year effort to create a bachelor's level geoscience degree program for students attending The National Hispanic University (NHU) in order to increase the participation of disadvantaged and minority students in this field. With this initial funding, NHU will develop a new program in which students earn an A.S. degree in Mathematics and Science with Geoscience Emphasis at NHU, and then transfer to collaborating institution San Jose State University (SJSU) to complete their B.S. in Geology. Funds will be used to develop three new core laboratory- and field-based geoscience classes for the NHU lower division curriculum: Geology 3, Planet Earth; Geology 4L, Planet Earth Laboratory; and Geology 7, Earth, Time and Life. The new courses will be articulated with both the SJSU geoscience degree program and the curricula of local high schools, which serve as feeder schools to NHU. University approval and Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation for the new degree program will also be sought. High school students recruited into this program will participate in a summer program that features a variety of hands-on science projects, field trips, and lectures by prominent geoscientists. The goal is to recruit 20 students in the first year and 40 students in the second year of the project. This summer program will help to strengthen their academic preparation for the geoscience degree program and further motivate their interests. After students transfer to SJSU, they will still be provided with tutoring and mentoring services from NHU, as needed, and an early-warning system will be established that alerts NHU if students are beginning to have difficulties. The new geoscience classes will also be used by NHU's Teacher Education Department as a test bed for innovative methods of teaching science content to "at risk" students. What is learned through application of these methods will eventually be incorporated into NHU's methods classes for pre- and in-service science teachers as a means to improve science education.