1. Important issues related to undergraduate geoscience education o Preparing future geoscience professionals o Educating an intelligent citizenry o Helping students with career planning o Increasing diversity in the profession o Preparing future teachers

2. Focus of this presentation o Improving the quality of teaching at the undergraduate level o Attracting students to geoscience courses and geoscience majors o My aim is to enlist your help

3. Improving teaching at the undergraduate level o Change is occurring slowly o Need for on-going professional development for geoscience faculty

4. Professional development for geoscience faculty o Many individual initiatives over the past 6-7 years o Focus on a program called On the Cutting Edge

5. o 5-year NSF-funded initiative begun in spring 2002 o PIs: Heather Macdonald, Cathryn Manduca, David Mogk, Barbara Tewksbury o Co-sponsored by NAGT and DLESE o Builds on previous successful programs sponsored by NAGT, DLESE, and PKAL over past 7 years

6. o Why focus on this program? o By the end of 2006, program will have developed a significant infrastructure, momentum, and leadership base o This is program is designed for continuation into the future o Member societies can play a crucial role in maintaining momentum

7. o Components of the program o Workshops o Website o Leadership development

8. o Workshops o Emerging theme workshops: to develop ways of bringing emerging research topics in geoscience and pedagogy into the classroom o Mature topic workshops: to disseminate best practices o Early Career Faculty Workshop o Graduate Student/Post Doc Workshop o Workshop on Effective and Innovative Course Design o Teaching Petrology in the 21st Century (2003); Teaching Structural Geology in the 21st Century (2004)

9. o Web site o Support for individual workshops o Development of on-line delivery for aspects of certain workshops o Resource for geoscience faculty o On-line registration system

10. o Leadership o Involvement of 5-10 new individuals in each of 6-8 workshops each year o Instruction in workshop “best practices”

11. o After 5 years, what will we have? o Robust models for successful workshops of many types o Track record for workshops that faculty wish to continue to attend o Stable and efficient system for on-line registration and support o Large number of potential leaders

12. o What would we like your help with? o Help with spinning off workshops that can augment the existing program o Example: Incorporating Planetary Geology into Geoscience Courses at the Undergraduate Level o One-day workshop at GSA Annual meeting 2003 o Co-sponsored by GSA Planetary Geology Division and On the Cutting Edge o Example: Using Data to Teach Earth Processes: An Illustrated Community Discussion o Special poster session at GSA Annual meeting 2003

13. o What else would we like your help with? o Finding ways to continue these workshops after NSF funding expires o Example: Teaching Economic Geology in the 21st Century

14. Increasing the number of geoscience majors o Undergraduate geoscience degrees granted annually now lower than any time since the 1960s o High of 7200 in 1982, then declined dramatically to low of about 2600 in 1991 o Rose to about 4800 in 1995, followed by precipitous decline o 2001: about 2100 o Impact on departments, the profession, and society

15. What do we need to do? o Teach better and emphasize the relevance of geoscience o Do more than passively accept those who are interested in a geoscience major o Recruit actively o Encourage those who are interested in other career paths to major in geoscience as undergraduates o Be proactive in creative career advising

16. What can member societies do? o Think creatively about how we can help departments recruit more effectively o Seek out and publicize success stories and develop models for success o Develop strategies to increase the number of top high school students who pursue geoscience research topics in high school

17. Questions for brainstorming o How might your society become involved in extending the On the Cutting Edge professional development program, either now or after 2006? o What might your society do to help departments develop strategies to attract more students to geoscience courses and majors? o What might your society do to increase the number of top high school students who pursue geoscience research topics?