Enhancing Minority Students? Exposure to Project-Based Learning and Geosciences Career Exploration

Enhancing Minority Students' Exposure to Project-based Learning and Geosciences Career Exploration. This project's primary goal is to enhance the geosciences curriculum and promote geoscience careers at a historical black college North Carolina A&T State University. It develops project-based course modules that introduce an inquiry-based Earth System approach into existing geosciences, environmental, and engineering courses to enhance student learning. The project builds upon themes relevant to selected geoscience topics from a bulk of Earth System Science resources available from the NSF DLESE database, NASA EESE 21 site and other sources that incorporate educational modules into course instruction and outreach activities. It provides professional development opportunities to faculty by developing an interdisciplinary team that enhances faculty expertise in geosciences education and research. Students and faculty conduct research on teaching and learning in geosciences by interacting and collaborating with geosciences faculty and scientists in partnering institutes such as MEAS at NCSU, Allied Geophysical Laboratories at the University of Houston, the Department of Geosciences at Penn State, the Department of Marine Sciences at East Carolina University, and other industry and government associates such as the Pyramid Environmental and Engineering, PC, the USDA National Remote Sensing Laboratory, the EPA, Landmark Graphics, and the Western Geco, Inc. The plan is to make a 'wheel' that fits NCA&T's geosciences curriculum needs and contains an additional touch of relevance by using North Carolina's local physiographic features, geological history, problems, and events in the modules. The expected result is to increase the participation of minority students into the pipeline which feeds geosciences degree programs and careers.