Program News

Education

Many advances have been made in science education in the last decade. For example, K-12 education has been revolutionized by recommendations contained in “The Benchmarks for Science Literacy” (AAAS, 1993) and the “National Science Education Standards” (National Research Council, 1996). Unfortunately, recommendations for the study of oceanography or marine sciences are not a part of either of these documents. Many opportunities to advance society’s interest in and understanding of the ocean and the importance of ocean research have been missed. In order to address the lack of leadership in ocean science educational reform, NSF sponsored a workshop to discuss how NSF can promote and foster ocean science education in the United States.

The workshop, which was jointly supported by the Division of Ocean Sciences and the Division of Undergraduate Education, was held May 23-26, 2000 at The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) Institute of Marine Sciences in Long Beach, MS. Dr. Sharon Walker, USM, and Dr. Dean McManus, University of Washington (UW), were co-chairs for the workshop. Members of the steering committee are listed below.

The workshop recommended the formation of a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) that will enable the NSF and other Federal agencies to establish a nationally coordinated effort to promote ocean science in both formal and informal educational settings. The report of this workshop was submitted to NSF on September 12, 2000 and the full text is available on two websites: http://www.ims.usm.edu/cosee/ and http://www.ocean.washington.edu/cosee/.

The report recommends strategies by which COSEE could promote ocean science education in informal education, grades K-8, grades 9-12, and undergraduate levels. In addition, the report recommends strategies for promoting teacher preparation and professional development and for the use of new technologies and results of ocean science research in educational materials.

Workshop members felt that COSEE should consist of regional centers that would work together to:

• facilitate the integration of research into high-quality educational materials to engage the minds of young students in the excitement of discovery and develop their interest into a mature understanding of the relevance of the ocean to their lives;

• promote the education of the public about the ocean and its influence on the quality of their lives and the prosperity of the nation;

• assist in developing curricula with core competencies for more effective education;

• foster the inclusion of underrepresented and underserved groups for new ideas and perspectives;

• encourage the sound preparation of teachers;

• provide opportunities for professional development of in-service teachers, undergraduate faculty, and administrators;

• assist in improving the reward structure for teaching, including faculty and graduate student teaching;

• encourage the use of information technology;

• establish internships; and

• provide career information across the spectrum of the ocean science community.

Workshop members recommended that COSEE should “effect many of these changes by fostering collaborations and partnerships both among people and between organizations and formulate strategies to evaluate these initiatives.”

NSF wishes to thank the COSEE chairs, the steering committee, and the workshop participants for their efforts. We urge everyone to review the report and provide comments to Lisa Rom (erom@nsf.gov). NSF/OCE plans to gather community response to the report during sessions at the Fall 2000 meeting of the American Geophysical Union and other meetings as appropriate. We will attempt to prioritize the workshop recommendations and issue an announcement of opportunity for the formation of COSEE if community response and budgetary considerations are favorable.

Steering Committee for COSEE Workshop

Dean A. McManus, School of Oceanography and Center for Instructional Development and Research, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (Co-Chair)

Sharon H. Walker, The University of Southern Mississippi, Institute of Marine Sciences and J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium, Biloxi, MS (Co-Chair)

Benjamin Cuker, Department of Marine & Environmental Science, Hampton University, Hampton, VA

Patricia Goodnight, River Terrace School, Washington, D.C.

Susan Humphris, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

Paula Keener-Chavis, Charleston Math & Science Hub, College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

Donald Reed, Department of Geology, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

Veronique Robigou, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Jerry R. Schubel, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA