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The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE



Contact: Kim Jarigese, 277-6433

Sept.18, 2007

NSF Grant for Geoscience Teacher Training Awarded to UNM

This summer, the University of New Mexico was selected as one of the 24 partners to take part in the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), an innovative professional development program for pre-service and in-service middle and high school teachers.

From left: Selena Connealy, New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science; Debby Knotts, UNM Extended University/New Media & Extended Learning; Matthew Nyman, UNM Earth & Planetary Sciences/Natural Science

UNM will join other colleges, universities, science research and education organizations spread among 22 states and the District of Columbia.

“I believe the cohort of partners we have selected are an excellent mix that will bring varied and innovative approaches to implementing the ESSEA courses,” said Theresa Schwerin, IGES’s associate director of education.

ESSEA is funded through a cooperative agreement awarded to The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) by the National Science Foundation under its Geoscience Teacher Training program, which supports projects designed to improve the quality of geoscience education. GEO-Teach projects provide pre-service teacher training, in-service professional development and access to high-quality curricular materials.

As an ESSEA partner, UNM will receive funding and training to offer online Earth system science courses geared toward teachers of specific grade levels and aligned to national education standards. Working in collaborative groups, teachers who enroll in an ESSEA course can earn undergraduate and graduate credit while learning to teach Earth system science using inquiry-based classroom methods, such as problem based learning.

“Earth Systems science is a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding earth processes and has broad applications to all science disciplines,” explained Matthew Nyman, ESSEA principal investigator.

“The online course will be augmented by a field experience organized in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, which will provide a New Mexico context for teachers. We believe this is an incredible opportunity for science teachers,” he said.

The NSF-funded program will build and expand on the original ESSEA program funded by NASA and administered by IGES from 2000 to 2005. IGES will provide the partners with online tools, modules and materials, which will be accessed through the participating institutions learning management systems.

UNM’s project is a collaboration among UNM Earth & Planetary Sciences, UNM Extended University/New Media & Extended Learning, and the NM Museum of Natural History. Principal Investigator is Matthew Nyman, Earth & Planetary Sciences/Natural Science and co-investigators are: Debby Knotts, New Media & Extended Learning/Extended University; Gary Weissman, Earth & Planetary Sciences; Selena Connealy, NM Museum of Natural History.

This fall, UNM will offer an online course for high school teachers from Albuquerque Public Schools and Northern New Mexico’s rural school districts. This 13 week course will utilize UNM’s LMS Blackboard Learning System Vista Enterprise and web conferencing tools with options for a field experience mid way through the semester.

Next spring, UNM will launch the mid school science teachers version of this course. As a two year program, UNM will offer these courses again in Fall 2008, as well as Spring 2009.

For more information on the ESSEA project, contact UNM Extended University/New Media & Extended Learning at 505-277-8128.
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The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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