Adapting to our changing planet requires both an Earth literate public and a workforce that can bring earth and environmental sciences to bear on tough societal issues. Achieving these goals requires a revolution in how Earth-education is perceived and practiced, as well as the roles that environmental learning play in the broader curriculum in institutions of higher education. The NSF STEP Center InTeGrate is a community effort developing materials and strategies for faculty and instructors teaching about Earth for a sustainable future and supporting sustainability beyond the classroom by developing models for programmatic change at the departmental or institutional level. InTeGrate materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. They challenge students to address interdisciplinary problems, engage in geoscientific habits of mind, work with authentic geoscience data and develop system thinking. Our strong and growing community of educators are adopting and adapting the InTeGrate materials and approaches to bring learning about Earth into novel, interdisciplinary settings across the country, working together to connect sustainability to the world we live in.
Results/Conclusions
The goal of increasing Earth-literacy applies to all undergraduate students, including the large majority that do not major in STEM fields, such as those who are historically under-represented in sciences, and future K-12 teachers, so that they are better positioned to make sustainable decisions in their lives and as part of the broader society. At the same time we are increasing the number of majors in environmental and geo sciences by developing and implementing cross-disciplinary educational programs as models that can be implemented at colleges and universities across the country. The InTeGrate community has grown to include 1,932 faculty from 720 institutions across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, India, and Micronesia have engaged including 11% participants from 61 minority serving institutions and 20% participants from 198 two year colleges. Using the NSF definitions, 9% of these participants are members of underrepresented minorities. Growth is supported by both online and face-to-face events, particularly the webinar series and annual Earth Educator Rendezvous conference. The desired outcome of community participation is the adoption of improved teaching practices that link learning about the Earth to societal issues. To date more than 70,000 students from a diverse set of backgrounds and institutions received instruction adopting or adapting new materials developed by the project. More information is available at: https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/index.html