Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Target Audience: The target audiences for this project was undersserved minorities in rural areas of Southeast Alaska as well as K-5 elementary ed teachers in the rural community of Sitka, Alaska and small, geographically-isolated communities in the region. The primary audiences were Non Native and Alaska Native rural coastal Southeast Alaska community students in the Sitka School District (which is 33% Alaska Native)and Elementary K-5 teachers in the Sitka School District and the region. Taking AME hit 100% of their students attending elementary school in the Sitka School Distric - 596 students. Efforts: Taking AME used a variety of sources to market to our target audience. Our education coordinators worked closely with the Sitka School District, met regularly with representatives from each grade level k-5 and reported at the Sitka School Board as well as to the elementary school staff meetings. Taking AME communicated with potential participants in the teacher training by creating a flyer that was widely distributed throughout Alaska using University of Alaska venues such as email lists and electronic bulletin boards. We also let teachers know about the training through school district staff announcements and through communications with the principals of each of the schools. TaKing AME also created an internet listserve to communicate with 8 mostly smaller communities in the region. The Taking AME listserv made these other school districts aware of the Taking AME program activities and included information on the visiting scientists. Sitka Sound Scienec Center also was sure to include information if the visiting scientists were available to visit other schools. Changes/Problems: The Ag in the Classroom staff in Alaska has had several change overs since the inception of this project. However, during the Teacher Training Workshop we included the science director for the State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development as well as the University of Alaska Department of Education science expert to help teachers create lessons that would be valuable to other teachers. In the future we plan to disseminate the products for this project through ITunes U, Alaska Association of School Boards. This will allow the program to be utilized longer as a sustainable model for other rural coastal community school districts in the State. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Goals: · Encourage K-5 Sitka School District students to pursue careers in aquaculture and marine science including fisheries; · Expand the Taking AME program regionally to schools in other communities within Southeast Alaska; · Improve K-5 teachers science skills and knowledge making them more comfortable teaching the subject of science; Taking AME, partnering with the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus, provided a three day workshop, Getting Kids Excited about Science for regional elementary teachers and scientists. This workshop gave teachers, from around the State of Alaska, basic information on aquaculture and scientific concepts and showed teachers how to use scientists in their classroom to make science relevant and fun. The workshop was attended by 14 elementary school teachers from around Southeast Alaska and 8 scientists. A pre and post test was delivered to teachers 1. After this training do you plan to incorporate science into you lesson plans? During post-test, 85% of teachers indicated that they would incorporate science in school “a great deal or a lot.” 2. Do you find value in having marine scientists and aquaculture professionals giving presentations in your classrooms? During post-test, 92% indicated that they saw having scientists in the class “extremely or very valuable.” 3. Do you feel comfortable teaching science? During post-test, 77% indicated an increased level of comfort. The elementary teachers who had scientists in their classrooms were asked in an online survey on awareness of resources provided by the SSSC: Did the presentations make you aware of resources that support your classroom science instruction? Yes – 60% No – 7% Already use the Sitka Sound Science Center as a resource – 33% How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Goals: Expand Taking AME program regionally to schools in other communities within Southeast Alaska Taking AME results were presented to the Sitka School Board, and to the Taking AME listserv communities which were: Craig, Wrangell, Klawok, Hoohah, Tenakee Springs, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Thorne Bay, Coffman Cove, and Hydaburg. These communities were kept informed of each visiting scientist and the activities that were planned. They were also offered to have the scientist visit their community. Several communities were interested in having scientists but lacked the funds to pay expensive travel costs. However, they would like to plan for these costs into the future. Also, the Sitka Sound Science Center Education Manager presented the Taking AME program to the Alaska 21st Century Learning Center Fall Conference in 2013. Future distribution will include ITunes U via the Alaska School Board Association which is used by science educators and education administrators throughout the state. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goals: · Build awareness to K-5 students in Sitka(in a district that is 33% Alaska Natives and minorities) of the contributions of aquaculture and marine science to the local area; · Expose Sitka K-5 students to hands-on problem-solving marine science and aquaculture activities to all students in every classroom; · Provide students with opportunities to learn basic scientific concepts that are part of Alaska science standards; · Encourage K-5 Sitka School District students to pursue careers in aquaculture and marine science including fisheries; Accomplishments: Scientist Grades taught in Sitka School District Lesson Topic # students taught Jan Straley and Dawn Goley Kindergarten Understanding the Feeding Habits of Baleen and Toothed Whales 95 Marnie Chapman First Grade Intertidal Life 90 Ann Wasser Second Grade Intertidal Food Webs 98 Julia O’Hern Third Grade Density Driven Ocean Currents 94 Tania Spurkland Fourth Grade Watersheds and Salmon 113 Jim Seeland and Lon Garrison Fifth Grade Aquaculture 106 Total # of Students 596 This represents 100% of students attending elementary school in the Sitka School District (except for that day’s absentees). 33% of the Sitka School District is Alaska Native. How valuable are the outcomes for students? Based on evaluator observations of K-5 classroom presentations and pre-lessons; there was a marked interest by students in the subject matter. This was observed through classroom observations. Indications of student engagement include: Engagement in hands-on activities (with the exception of one or two children in each classroom, across classes and grade levels, engaged in the above positive indicators): Asking and answering questions Observing and commenting on different experiment results Immediate response and “grouping up” Teachers were asked to complete an on-line survey on student engagement. The following are the questions and answer options and the response rates. Did the "Scientists in the Schools" presentations engage your students? Students were extremely interested – 73% Students were quite interested – 27% Did the "Scientists in the Schools" presentation encourage your students to pursue future scientific discovery? Students were extremely interested in future discovery – 27% Students were quite interested in future discovery – 53% Somewhat encouraged future discovery – 20% How valuable are the outcomes for teachers? The survey also focused on teachers’ awareness of resources provided by the SSSC: Did the presentations make you aware of resources that support your classroom science instruction? Yes – 60% No – 7% Already use the Sitka Sound Science Center as a resource – 33%
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This program addressed the following goals, objectives and outputs: Goal: Increase the number of K-8 students in Sitka, Alaska who receive aquaculture and marine science education to raise awareness of global food security. Objective 1: Engage partners and collaborators to create organizational plan for program operations by June 2011. Outcome 1: Hold a gathering of participants and evaluator to inform, discuss and provide input for program activities specifically project goals and objectives, to effectively meet desired outcomes. Outcome 2: Hold a gathering of participants and evaluator to inform, discuss and provide input for program activities specifically project goals and objectives, to effectively meet desired outcomes. Outcome 3: Create media products and circulate in newspapers, email, district websites and bulletin boards to regional Southeast Alaska school districts and communities. Outcome 4: Communicate with USFA NIFA program director and other funded programs to share program overview. Outcome 5: Coordinate sharing experts/scientists with UAS Fish Tech Training Fisheries Practicum for grades 9-12 classes. Outcome 6: Examine, refine, and agree upon the evaluation tools, purposes, users, uses, and methods with stakeholders. Methods: Surveys, observations and interviews. Objective 2: Develop lesson plans for K-8 grade aquaculture and marine science class modules by 9/2013. (In year one, this objective was limited to lesson plan development for grades K-5.) Outcome 1: Identify members of the lesson plan review committee to guide the development process. Outcome 2: Identity educational aim, goals, objectives, learning experiences and evaluation approaches for each grade specific activity Outcome 3: Verify curriculum content to Alaska educational standards Objective 3: Deliver six aquaculture and marine science experiential-based learning activities to Sitka K-8 by six guest scientists and content experts by 5/2013. Outcome 1: Identify marine scientists and content experts experienced in working with elementary school aged children. Many of the activities (outcomes) listed with this objective were described above. Objective 4: Established a formal educational training program at the Sitka Sound Science Center for K-8 students. Outcome 1. Discuss a range of activities with elementary educators that would enhance or benefit grade level science curricula. Outcome 2. Select and design age/grade-appropriate activities using SSSC educational tools for each grade K-8. Objective 5: Provide professional development to K-8 teachers by This objective will be addressed in year two. Objective 6: Disseminate program information to nine Southeast Alaska communities throughout the 24-month SPECA period. The Principal Investigator has remained in contact with Southeast Alaska Island School districts to inform them of the program and it's developing programming. PARTICIPANTS: Lisa Busch is the Principal Investigator for this project and executive director of Sitka Sound Science Center. She is in charge of assuring the project reporting goals and timeline milestones are met. She is responsible for media, press releases and communication between participants. She meets with education coordinators, scientists, evaluator and the science director. Jan Straley is Science Director for Taking AME. Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Alaska Southeast, Straley is in charge of overseeing the selection of Taking AME scientists and provides professional expertise for the program. She meets regularly with education coordinators and helps the scientists deliver their lessons. Karen Jones and Marilyn Guhl are co-Educational Coordinators for Taking AME. Teachers for 30 years, Jones and Guhl presented to the entire staff about the program, met with grade level representatives, developed and instituted the lesson plans for the Pre scientist lessons and developed, with the visiting scientist, lessons. She assures that the lessons are age and developmentally appropriate. She helps teachers understand how the lessons fit into the existing curriculum. Alaina Avery, Americorps Volunteer. Alaina provides prep work assistance for the pre-lessons before the scientist arrives and the visiting scientist lessons. She gathers and purchases materials for the lessons. Alaina also provides classroom assistance and works with the educational coordinators. Lily Herwald is owner of Trestle Inc. She is the evaluator for the Taking AME project. Herwald works closely with the education coordinators, science director and PI on an ongoing basis throughout the length of the project. She videos and assesses the class activities and gathers information regularly about activities and timeline information for the project. Sitka Sound Science Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization. The mission of the SSSC is to promote and support aquatic and terrestrial scientific research and education in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska.SSSC coordinates and administers Taking AME. University of Alaska Southeast, Department of Natural Sciences. UAS is providing science direction on Taking AME. It helps to find scientists with experience with education and outreach as well as marine and aquaculture expertise. Sitka School District is comprised of five schools that are all located within the city boundaries. The student population is 1,310. Out of the 1,310 students 33% are Alaska Native/American Indian. The Sitka School District has a teacher at each school representing the school and the grade level team represents each grade level for the Taking AME project. Training or professional development The kindergarten and first grade teachers had representatives from grade levels met with scientists and education coordinators to learn about the value of the lessons and how the lessons fit into food security and marine science. Scientists wrote letters to the teachers and the students in advance of the lessons to prepare the students and teachers for the lessons. TARGET AUDIENCES: The Taking AME project targets 700 students in K-5 grades who are Alaska Native and rural Alaskans. To date this project has met the objectives for 230 students in two grades. This academic year the remaining 470 students will be served by the project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We have made no Major Changes to the program.
Impacts
Results/Impacts for Objective 1: During year one, partnerships for aquaculture and marine science education in Sitka elementary schools were formalized. These agreements were created for: Education Coordinators Hire letters. 1. Karen Jones 2. Marilyn Guhl Scientists (2) Contracts for science lessons 1. Dawn Goley for Kindergarten 2. Marnie Chapman for First Grade Sitka School District Baranof Elementary and Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary Principals met and agreed to implementing programs Kindergarten teachers (6) agreed to participate First grade teachers (5) agreed to participate Evaluator Contract with Trestle LLC Univ. of AK Southeast: Scope of Work. 2. Evaluation tools and method processes were drafted and selected. These include: Direct Observation: *Classroom student observation forms for K-1. *Copies of follow up letters from scientists to teachers. Results/Impacts for Objective 2: The Principal Investigator, Sitka WhaleFest Science Director, Educational Coordinators, Evaluator and selected Scientists developed and fine-tuned lesson plan, educational goals and objectives and evaluation approaches for Kindergarten and First Grade sessions. This was accomplished through a variety meetings, and email exchanges. There are no State of Alaska science standards for Kindergarten and First Grade. Evaluation methods include: Surveys; Teacher experience tool; Process Measures and Matrix. Developed a variety of media products and circulate in newspapers, email, district websites and bulletin boards to regional Southeast Alaska school districts and communities. The Principal Investigator connected with Southeast Alaska School district to inform them of the Taking AME program and inviting participation. Results/Impacts for Objectives 3 and 4: Scientists (2) Contracts for science lessons: Dawn Goley, Professor of Biology at Humbolt State Univ. 1. Marnie Chapman, Associate Professor of Biology & Health at Univ. of AK Southeast Alaska- Sitka Campus. In year one, sessions were held in eleven classrooms for a total of Kindergarten: 100% of Sitka School District Kindergarten classes (108 students) and 100% of Sitka School District First Grade classes (105 students) received: Pre-Lesson designed for age group was provided in classroom by two Education Coordinators: Kindergarten classrooms on May 6, 2012. First Grade classrooms on April 23, 2012. Scientist lead five science sessions at the Sitka Sound Science Center and it's beach: Kindergarten classrooms on May 14-15, 2012. First Grade classrooms on April 25-27, 2012. Evaluator Observation of six sessions: Engaged students as determined through focused attention, questions, and observed enthusiasm. Follow-up interviews with teachers showed their positive experience with the program and their observation that lesson goals and objectives were met. Interviews with teachers, Education Coordinator and scientist about their experience and opinion of success of lesson implementation. Universal agreement of success. They fine-tuned the lessons for flow and logistics - utilizing real time evaluation and modification. Objectives 5 and 6 will be addressed in year two.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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