A snapshot of a snapshot: an overview of an ongoing geoscience education research project

A snapshot of a snapshot: an overview of an ongoing geoscience education research project

Forrest Lloyd

I’ve almost always entertained the idea of teaching youths, thus when course selection time rolled around I naturally enrolled in numerous educational psychology and methods courses. Throughout my student-teaching practicum at Edison Middle School (whilst a student at the University of Wisconsin Rock-County), I was fortunate enough to re-experience the stench of middle school; despite the unchecked hormones, my desire to teach grew. Since transferring to Beloit College four years ago, my passion for the academic success of others has exponentially grown leading me to attend multiple professional development events for teachers with the end goal of better understanding institutional practices.

One such event was Science Education Resource Center (SERC) workshop which highlighted the multidisciplinary approach to teaching a geoscience course to pre-service teachers at St. Norbert College; as the only undergraduate participant, I immediately drew parallels to my own education and wondered, “How many courses like this exist for students like myself and how are we being prepared?” Since this workshop, I’ve found that some institutions are integrating geologic content with pedagogical theories and presented my findings in an oral presentation at the 2016 Geological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting in Denver, CO, and in a poster session at the Midstates Consortium for Math & Science (St. Louis, MO); my co-author and I plan to submit our manuscript for peer review in the Journal of Geoscience Education this September.

Since completing this project, I’ve participated in a Keck Geology REU at the Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) at Texas A&M University, worked with other geoscience education researchers, started provenance work for Pliocene aged ice rafted detritus (IRD) in the Weddell Sea (for my geology thesis), and worked at a day camp for kids in Arlington, VA. This Fall I look forward to classes, hosting a geology booth for the local Boy Scouts of America troop, presenting at the 2017 GSA annual meeting in Seattle, and participating in cross-country.   

Forrest presenting a poster entitled "A snapshot of the future: an analysis of catalog descriptions for future earth science teachers" at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri on 5 November 2016.