Abstract

Making Connections: K-12 Teachers and University Faculty Partnering in GIScience
Track: Community Projects and Partnerships
Authors: Don Adams, Gary Christopherson

Getting K-12 teachers and university faculty connected and working together on GIS-based research sounds like something that should happen almost spontaneously. In reality it has proven to be a difficult task that requires real effort to accomplish. Under funding, lack of GIS capacity and time commitments that strain already stressful educational environments are just some of the issues that make this kind of partnership difficult to achieve. This presentation examines a successful model for linking university researchers with middle and high school teachers in a mentor/mentee relationship. The Murdock Foundation and the Research Corporation have a two decade history of successfully bringing together science teachers with university faculty. This presentation looks at the Partners in Science program from the viewpoint of both a high school science teacher and a university researcher. It provides a framework for successful integration of GIS related projects suitable for both K-12 and university research.