Tina Miller-Way
Discovery Hall Programs/Dauphin Island Sea Lab
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Status: Past
Type:
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Project Leaders
Project Date Range: 02-01-2022 to 01-31-2025
Keywords: teacher training, informal educators, K-12 teachers, workshops, literacy, continuing education
Objectives
To increase knowledge of environmental topics by develop and implementing a number of onsite and in-the-field professional learning opportunities for in-service and pre-service classroom and informal educators addressing one or more topics within MASGC focus areas of Healthy Coastal Ecosystems Fisheries and Aquaculture or Resilient Communities and topics which address specific areas of the draft GoM Literacy Principles. Workshops will integrate MASGC-funded research and involve MASGC-funded and other institutional researchers to provide educators with the most current information effective instruction tools and helpful resources such that they can in turn engage and instruct their P-12 students. These efforts increase the reach of environmental education instruction increasing environmental ocean and Gulf of Mexico literacy among educators and P-12 students as well as model effective outdoor instruction for educators.
Methodology
Professional learning opportunities for educators offered will take many forms from short duration single day informal (drop in) events to multi-day immersive workshops focused on a specific topic focus area. All opportunities address one or more topics within MASGC focus areas of Healthy Coastal Ecosystems Fisheries and Aquaculture or Resilient Communities and topics which address specific areas of the draft GoM Literacy Principles. Through various partnerships with accrediting organizations and institutions in Alabama and Mississippi workshop participants receive continuing education credit and for some of the workshops offered may elect to earn graduate credit making the opportunities more appealing to and effective for educators. Announcements and recruitment will be conducted through existing networks of formal and informal educators in the bi-state region (Alabama Science Teachers Association Mississippi Science Teachers Association Southern Association of Marine Educators Environmental Education Association of Alabama etc.).
Rationale
As professional educators classroom teachers and informal educators continue to learn and bring new information and activities to their students. All 3 MASGC education centers create learning opportunities for educators bringing MASGC supported research as well as other research to participants in these opportunities. MASGC educators serve as facilitators in this process translating research and information cultivating and sharing an array of the most useful resources and providing in the field and in the lab experiences for participating educators so they can be more effective at increasing environmental literacy among their students.