1. Enhancing your Teaching and Developing New Leadership: Impact of the On the Cutting Edge Professional Development Program Ellen Iverson, Cathy Manduca, Carleton College; John McLaughlin, Managing for Results, Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary NSF CCLI- 0127141

2. On the Cutting Edge Program Improving undergraduate geoscience education through supporting faculty in improving content and instruction workshops –A synergistic, integrated multi-year series of workshops website –A website to support workshops and reach the broader geoscience community leadership –An expanding community of geoscience educators with a strong and diverse leadership Research on what faculty need, how faculty work, the impact of the program serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/

3. Emerging topics workshops Move new science content and teaching methods into mainstream Brings together researchers, educators 2 per year Examples: –Geology & Human Health –Biocomplexity –Teaching with Visualizations –Understanding What Students are Learning

4. Teaching “X” workshops Explore teaching “X” effectively in the classroom, lab, and field Teaching Petrology (03) Teaching Structural Geology (04) Teaching Hydrogeology (05) 70-80 faculty/workshop (> 10% of those teaching “X” in the US)

5. Workshops repeated annually Designing Effective and Innovative Courses in the Geosciences Workshop for Early Career Faculty Preparing for an Academic Career

6. Websites Websites to support workshops and reach the broader geoscience community

7. Program Awareness Question: Have you ever heard of the On the Cutting Edge workshop series for geoscience faculty? Answer: 34% YES aware of program Random sample of 475 Geoscientists Email survey –43% return from email –90% confidence level –7% margin of error

8. Determining the impact Online survey ~ 50% response rate 54 interviews with workshop participants 12 interviews with website users

9. Four major areas of impact: Change from “what do I teach” to “what are students learning” Introduction of new teaching methods into courses Increased emphasis in course content on emerging geoscience research and connections between geoscience and humans (Emerging theme workshops) Increased confidence, new skills, and new connections –expand their sphere of influence –take on leadership positions in a wide range of venues (e.g. campus, regional, national, international) and in new professional areas (e.g. geoscience education, teacher preparation).

10. From “what I teach” to “what students learn” 38 of 54 (70%) participants described significant shifts in their attitude about the practice of teaching and study of learning. 14 of 54 (26%) participants talked about how the workshop reaffirmed their existing attitudes and belief about teaching and learning in geoscience.

11. New teaching methods into courses 45 of 54 (83%) participants noted biggest impacts was teaching and described specific active learning techniques and activities they incorporated. Department impact of new teaching methods –Complete curriculum overhaul for majors –Curriculum overhaul for teacher preparation

12. Emphasis in course content on emerging geoscience research Connections between geoscience and humans Addition of Geology and Human Health into courses and curriculum Increased use and attention to the use of visualizations in teaching

13. Increased confidence, new skills, and new connections 42 of 54 (78%) participants highlighted outcomes from the workshop that demonstrated an expanded sphere of influence. –Leading regional workshops –Participate and lead cross-discipline curriculum or activities on campus –Pursuit (and many times be awarded) grants related to workshop outcomes –Develop outreach programs for local community education –Develop pre-service or in-service science teacher programs –Present or publish in area of geoscience education

14. Networking and Role of Trusted Source Previous study* seven of eight faculty we interviewed (87%) identified colleagues as favorite source of information on teaching. Workshop participants: –Identify networking at workshop as key to their learning –Create new networks on their campus or with other colleagues to strengthen their geoscience teaching –Share resources with connections made at workshop *Manduca, C.M., Iverson, E., Fox, S., McMartin, F. Influencing User Behavior through Digital Library Design An Example from the Geosciences D-Lib Magazine, May, 2005.

15. http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/