Collaborative Research: Planning: Innovation in Introductory Geography Courses at Two-Year Colleges

About This Grant

This project aims to serve the national interest by attracting and retaining two-year college students in the field of geography, and by creating evidence-based curriculum that is widely available to the two-year college community. Central New Mexico Community College and Bronx Community College plan to form a partnership to initiate a long-term effort to increase availability of evidence-based curriculum that serves to enhance the teaching and learning of entry level geography courses around the country. More specifically, this project establishes the structure through which a collection of resources can be developed, implemented, assessed and then made available in a national repository. Access to these resources supports the enhancement of key STEM courses and ultimately has the potential to inspire students to consider careers in a range of alternative fields. Project objectives include: 1) assessing the current state of introductory undergraduate geography teaching in the U.S., 2) creating evidenced-based modules for introductory geography courses, 3) developing a community of practice for faculty, and 4) securing funding to support the next phase beyond this initial planning effort. These objectives are pursued through partnerships with the American Association of Geographers (AAG) and the Science Education Research Center (SERC). Project assessment and evaluation focus on the strength of partnerships, engagement in the community of practice, the curriculum development process, and student success. Dissemination efforts include sharing results through presentations at conferences that serve two-year college audiences. Building on the momentum of this phase, a full proposal to expand this work will be submitted. The NSF IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) Program seeks to accelerate the impact of and advance knowledge about emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.