Ocean 2YC: Building a Community of Oceanography Two-Year College Instructors

Northwest Florida State College, Niceville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support 18 community college oceanography faculty to attend a workshop and the 2013 national conference of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. This assembly will be an important first step in building a community of Ocean 2YC faculty, a group with no previous assemblage or identity. A session on ?Opportunities and challenges of teaching introductory oceanography to undergraduates? will be co-chaired by Jan Hodder (COSSEE-Pacific) and PI Beauregard. It will focus on effective ways to teach and assess student learning in these classes. The session is not geared specifically for two-year college faculty but would also be of interest to four-year college faculty. This may provide a nice mechanism for interaction between these groups. Additionally, Jan Hodder, Heather Macdonald, Eric Baer (Highline Community College), and Bob Blodgett (Austin Community College) will host a workshop on successful ways to prepare community college students for geoscience careers as part of their NSF-funded ?Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education (SAGE) at Community Colleges (2YC)? project. Finally, COSEE Pacific will support an evening reception for Ocean 2YC participants. The reception could include a discussion of opportunities and resources for 2YC geoscientist faculty, as well as challenges and needs specific to the Ocean 2YC community. Travel assistance will be limited to faculty who either present at the meeting or who attend the SAGE-2YC workshop. Participants in this project will receive airfare, subsistence, and registration to attend the ASLO meeting in February 2013 in New Orleans, LA. Community colleges are a critical part of our educational system, and serve almost half (or approximately 7 million) of all U.S. undergraduate students, 32% whom are under-represented minorities (National Science Foundation, 2008). Yet, community college faculties rarely have access to professional development funds that allow for national conference attendance and the critical interactions that lead to higher quality instruction (Geo2YC Workshop, 2010). Community college oceanography faculty face some startling challenges in their classrooms, including lack of access to current scientific research, lack of expensive equipment, and an extremely large range in student interest and abilities in one course section. Intellectual Merit: This project is a crucial first step, toward building an Ocean2YC community. Such a community will provide a forum for sharing ideas and strategies for teaching oceanography at two year colleges, such as innovative ideas for incorporating research into two year classrooms, teaching non-majors, and transfer issues with four year colleges. Broader Impacts: Half of all students receiving baccalaureate degrees in the U.S. attend a community college at some point in their educational career (AACC, 2012). A strong community of community college oceanography instructors to share effective teaching strategies will lead to better instruction and increased participation in the ocean sciences. Because these institutions serve a disproportionate number of minority and first generation college students, effective teaching at community colleges will have the additional benefit of increasing diversity in the ocean sciences.