GP-IN: Geoscience Exposure and Training in Texas (GET Texas): High School through Undergrad

GP-IN：德克萨斯州地球科学接触和培训 (GET Texas)：高中至本科生

• 批准号: 2022878
• 负责人: David Moss
• 金额: $ 34.58万
• 依托单位: Sam Houston State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2022878&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GP; Geoscience; Exposure; Training; Texas

Recruiting more geoscience undergraduates is vital to addressing projected employment shortfalls and developing solutions for the complex problems that society faces. However, many late high school and community college students remain unaware about geoscience as a discipline and its promising career paths. In many states (including Texas), geoscience and environmental science-related courses are not required for graduation from high school, and many students, their parents, and teachers are not aware of the variety of careers available in the geosciences. If we are to address the geoscience employee shortfall and increase geoscience workforce diversity, we must: 1) get geoscience concepts to students earlier in their academic careers; 2) show those in transition to colleges and universities how the geosciences are applicable and employable; 3) recruit from a wider pool of potential students; and 4) develop lasting relationships with students and educators. To meet these goals, Lone Star College and Sam Houston State University will build relationships with a local museum, a summer camp, and local high school teachers to increase geoscience awareness. This project will train teachers and early-career geoscientists during workshops and an abbreviated summer bridge program that covers active and historical geologic processes and environmental issues in the local region. Student participants will be supported with faculty and peer mentoring throughout the project and the duration of their geoscience education at both the community college and university levels. Given the importance of geoscience careers for the Texas economy, the PIs expect many of the students and teachers that this program reaches will help bridge future employment shortfall projections while diversifying the geosciences.GET Texas will increase geoscience awareness and help meet current and future employer demand by creating a place-based geoscience learning ecosystem (GLE) that includes informal institutions (Houston Museum of Natural Science and a local YMCA), high schools, the largest Houston-area community college system (Lone Star College), and a regional four-year, undergraduate-focused university (Sam Houston State). This project provides geoscience training and exposure opportunities through: 1) high school outreach and continuing-education teacher workshops to introduce the relevance of the geosciences; 2) a place-based summer bridge program focused on sediment and water issues in southeast Texas; and 3) sustained teacher and student mentorship by offering continuing geoscience open houses to maintain peer and faculty mentoring while promoting the many career paths in the geosciences. The summer bridge program, one key for transitioning students from high school into college and university geoscience programs, will include a combined field and laboratory approach that covers geochemistry, hydrology, geomorphology, and active and historical sedimentary processes in the Gulf-Coastal Plain and Central Texas. While many STEM-related studies provide a foundation for how to recruit and retain diverse students, This project goes beyond the field experiences and builds a holistic teacher-student recruiting GLE that engages participants in multiple forums and at events throughout the entire year to maintain peer and faculty mentoring relationships. These sustained relationships are key for both recruiting and retaining underrepresented minority students at Lone Star College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and Sam Houston State, an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

招募更多的地球科学本科生对于解决预计的就业短缺和为社会面临的复杂问题制定解决方案至关重要。然而，许多高中生和社区学院的学生仍然不知道地球科学作为一门学科及其有前途的职业道路。在许多州（包括德克萨斯州），高中毕业不需要学习地球科学和环境科学相关课程，许多学生、他们的家长和老师并不知道地球科学领域的职业种类繁多。如果我们要解决地球科学员工短缺问题并增加地球科学劳动力的多样性，我们必须：1）在学生学术生涯的早期向其传授地球科学概念； 2）向那些正在向大学过渡的人展示地球科学如何适用和就业； 3）从更广泛的潜在学生中招募； 4) 与学生和教育工作者建立持久的关系。为了实现这些目标，孤星学院和萨姆休斯顿州立大学将与当地博物馆、夏令营和当地高中教师建立关系，以提高地球科学意识。该项目将在研讨会和简短的夏季桥梁项目中对教师和职业生涯早期的地球科学家进行培训，该项目涵盖当地活跃和历史的地质过程以及环境问题。学生参与者将在整个项目期间以及社区学院和大学级别的地球科学教育期间获得教师和同伴指导的支持。鉴于地球科学职业对德克萨斯州经济的重要性，PI 预计该计划覆盖的许多学生和教师将有助于弥合未来就业短缺预测，同时实现地球科学多样化。GET Texas 将提高地球科学意识并帮助满足当前和未来的雇主需求通过创建一个基于地方的地球科学学习生态系统（GLE），其中包括非正式机构（休斯顿自然科学博物馆和当地基督教青年会）、高中、休斯顿地区最大的社区学院系统（孤星学院）和地区四年制本科大学（萨姆休斯顿州立大学）。该项目通过以下方式提供地球科学培训和接触机会：1）高中外展和继续教育教师讲习班，介绍地球科学的相关性； 2) 一个基于地点的夏季桥梁计划，重点关注德克萨斯州东南部的沉积物和水问题； 3）通过提供持续的地球科学开放日来维持教师和学生的指导，以维持同行和教师的指导，同时促进地球科学领域的许多职业道路。夏季桥梁课程是学生从高中过渡到大学地球科学课程的关键之一，将包括现场和实验室相结合的方法，涵盖地球化学、水文学、地貌学以及墨西哥湾沿岸平原和中部地区的活跃和历史沉积过程。德克萨斯州。虽然许多与 STEM 相关的研究为如何招募和留住多元化学生奠定了基础，但该项目超越了现场经验，建立了一个全面的师生招募 GLE，让参与者全年参与多个论坛和活动，以保持同行和教师指导关系。这些持续的关系对于拉美裔服务机构孤星学院和新兴拉美裔服务机构萨姆休斯顿州立大学招募和留住代表性不足的少数族裔学生至关重要。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过以下方式提供支持：使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。