Year: 2023
Relevance
Professional learning opportunities increase educators' knowledge and confidence on topics relating to coastal ecosystems, fisheries, aquaponics, habitat restoration, ocean STEM, sea level rise, coastal resilience and other coastal issues for K-12 students. Educators who participate in these programs share their experiences, information and activities learned with students increasing student environmental, STEM, ocean and Gulf of Mexico literacy.
Response
Virtual and place-based Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium-supported professional learning workshops for more than 3,300 classroom teachers and informal educators provided 16,000 contact hours and direct access to scientists, firsthand experiences with equipment and skills, curricula and hands-on activities that can be used in their teaching environments.
Results
Evaluations for individual workshops indicated that participants increased their content knowledge, valued these opportunities and planned to share information and activities with their student audiences.
Recap
Over the past six years, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium-supported workshops reached more than 3,300 classroom and informal educators and delivered more than 16,600 contact hours with content, firsthand experiences and classroom lessons on coastal ecosystems, fisheries, aquaponics, habitat restoration, ocean STEM, sea level rise and coastal resilience, which increased capacity in fostering environmental, STEM, ocean and Gulf of Mexico literacy. (2023)