COSEE CA Receives Funding for Programs
COSEE California has received two major new grants to expand the Communicating Ocean Sciences College Courses into new dimensions to reach even broader audiences.
The NSF Informal Science Education (ISE) Program awarded the Lawrence Hall of Science/COSEE California $2.8 million over four years to further develop and strengthen the efficacy of the partnerships that began as part of a previous NSF ISE award, Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences (COSIA). The new COSIA Network grant will develop a cross-disciplinary community that brings together ocean and climate scientists in institutions of higher education and educators in informal science education institutions to communicate ocean sciences concepts and research to the public. It fosters long-term relationships between scientists and educators across the country as they draw on one another’s expertise. The Network will work to build the capacity of both groups to: expand the number of universities teaching the college course; conduct regional professional development programs for informal science educators; offer workshops for scientists interested in education and outreach; and work with universities and informal science environments such as 4H clubs to bring ocean sciences to inland areas of the country.
Lawrence Hall of Science/COSEE California also received an award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for the Museum Educators Reflecting on Practice program based on a successful resource and model that LHS created through Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences. This two year, $300,000 professional development program builds capacity of museum educators and engages them in extensive, ongoing study of science pedagogy and reflective practice grounded in research and theory specific to informal learning environments. Museum educators attending the workshops at LHS will then use the Reflecting on Practice Curriculum at their sites to provide professional development for their own staff.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0540417. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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