Abstract Detail

Education and Outreach

Nepal, Madhav [1], Andersen, Ethan [2], Bowning , Larry B. [3], Edwards, Laura [4], Miller, Matthew L. [5], White, P. Troy [6].

Immersive Learning Experiences And Rural Networking at South Dakota State University (iLEARN@SDSTATE): A Professional Development Program for Science/Agriculture Teachers.

Immersive Learning Experiences And Rural Networking (I-LEARN) is an immersive professional development program for secondary science/agriculture educators. The main objectives of the workshop were to 1) identify teachers' content and pedagogical challenges for teaching lessons related to climate science and 2) provide immersive collaborative opportunities for teachers to work with scientists to develop instructional modules aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) so that teachers are comfortable delivering the content to their students. We organized two three-day workshops in 2017 and in 2018 that provided 35 teachers an immersion experiences exploring the greenhouse effect and evidences of responses of plants, animals, microbes, landscapes, soil and water sources to climate change.Teachers were engaged in hands-on activities based on NGSS, in forums with higher education research scientists and experts; and mentored to prepare lessons, implement and assess lessons effectiveness, and share their findings through online forums. During the daytime, teachers were engaged in hands-on activities framed within teaching modules. Evening sessions included a keynote speech followed by a "scientist to teachers" speed dating model of interactions. Thirty-five faculty researchers and experts including climatologists, meteorologists from local TV station and scientists from USGS-EROS (United States Geological Survey: Earth Resources Observation and Science Center) participated in mentoring activities and/or contributed in the evening scientist-teacher interactions. Many of these interactions resulted into faculty-teacher collaboration and networking. The iLEARN workshops deliberately blended South Dakota Secondary Science and Agriculture Education teachers to apply best practices related to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).This workshop has also immersed participants into SDSU's agricultural science laboratories to explore first-hand current best practices relevant to scientific agricultural content. At the presentation, successes of our model of the professional develpment, teaching modules developed and implemented by our participant teachers and scientist-teachers collaboration at South Dakota State Univeristy will be discussed.

1 - South Dakota State University, Biology And Microbiology, Northern Plain Biostress Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007, United States
2 - South Dakota State University, Biology And Microbiology, McFadden Biostress Laboratory, Brookings, SD, 57006, USA
3 - South Dakota State University, Physics, Daktronics Eng Hall 267, Brookings , SD, 57006, USA
4 - South Dakota State University, Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering , Box 2120, SAE 107 , 1400 N Campus Drive, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA
5 - South Dakota State University, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Avera Health & Science 351, Brookings, SD, 57006, USA
6 - South Dakota State University, Teaching Learning and Leadership, Brookings, SD, 57006, USA

Keywords:
Climate Change Science
Rural Networking
Teacher Shortage
Teaching Touchy Topic
Faculty-teacher collaboration
Speed dating model of scientist-teacher interaction
Professional Development for Teachers
Immersive Workshop
NIFA PD-STEP Program.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 17, Contributed Papers: Education and Outreach I
Location: 104/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 8:15 AM
Number: 17002
Abstract ID:59
Candidate for Awards:None