News - United States of America
Metropolitan State University Uses GLOBE to Connect with Community
Q & A with GLOBE Partner Richard Wagner, Professor of Meteorology at GLOBE Partnership Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado, USA:
What is your organization's involvement with GLOBE?
Our GLOBE Partnership at Metropolitan State University in Denver is coordinated by Janelle Johnson (Associate Professor of Secondary Education) and myself (Rich Wagner, Professor of Meteorology). Our primary involvement is through teacher professional development and support, but we also enjoy the Student Research Symposia, GLOBE resources, Watercoolers, etc.
What is your favorite part about your GLOBE Partnership and connection to the community/audience you work with through GLOBE?
The GLOBE community is wonderful. It is so inspiring that GLOBE partners around the country are doing such meaningful work; there are lots of successes that we can adapt to our project. We mostly work with amazing GLOBE teachers and partners, but the chance to see students excited about engaging with the world and doing science reinforces what we are all about. (Image: Students taking observations at NCAR Weather Trail as part of 2018 SW Region SRS, co-hosted by MSU Denver, NCAR/UCAR, and University of Colorado CIRES)
What is a highlight or project example that illustrates the benefit of doing GLOBE protocols as part of your project focus?
We are completing a three-year National Science Foundation ITEST grant (#161593) emphasizing STEM equity practices, increasing relevance of science for teachers and students through a community-based approach addressing local issues. GLOBE data collection is central to our MULTI STEM approach. We feel that we have learned so much from this grant implementation that we want to continue. We are excited to publish our findings in the next year, but are also pleased to have a one-year extension on the grant to continue working with teachers and students.
What are your organization's highlights of past, current, and upcoming initiatives, campaigns, etc. using GLOBE?
The highlight of our grant has been our annual MULTI STEM Institute the past three Junes. We are grateful to the many GLOBE partners who have assisted with facilitating sessions. When not leading a session, they serve as Participant Observers, who work with in-service and pre-service teachers in the activities, providing invaluable feedback since their attention is not divided between facilitation and listening to the struggles and thoughts of the participants. (Image: MULTI STEM Water in the Southwest Workshop in Durango, Colorado).
How does your Partnership and GLOBE support teacher instruction and student learning?
MULTI STEM is structured around four components: 1) workshops where teachers collaboratively develop curriculum engaging for “focal students” who have struggled with science; 2) projects based on GLOBE data leading to research presented at Student Research Symposia; 3) a field course at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge for Community College students who then share their experiences with K-12 teachers and students; and 4) connecting students and their families with informal science organizations through STEM career expos. (Image: MULTI STEM Research Assistant and Pre-service Teacher Cassie Hayter served as a reviewer at the 2018 SW Region SRS in Boulder, Colorado).
The host of an interactive booth on energy at our STEM Career Expo talked about the importance “to reach the kids and really open up their world and find their passion so they're not intimidated and left through the rest of their life thinking that they can't do something, or be something that they really want to be."
type: globe-newsNews origin: United States of America