In this discussion, Field Editor Beth Murphy, NSTA Executive Director David Evans, and ASTC President and CEO Cristin Dorgelo discuss the origins of Connected Science Learning, and what’s next for the journal. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Beth: I want to thank you both for finding time to talk about Connected Science Learning. It’s great to have this opportunity to share with readers how the journal began, why it’s important to both organizations, and how we hope to continue to grow the CSL community. David, can you start by telling us how the journal came to be?

David: The idea of having a journal that would pull together the informal science community and the K–12 world was on my agenda the day I arrived [at NSTA six years ago]. From the NSTA perspective, it seemed to me like [museums provided] a wonderful resource that we weren’t using enough in the K–12 space. So, my first motivation was to figure out a way to better connect museums and K–12 education. [From the other side,] museum and zoo educators were really committed to engaging people in STEM through their programs and associated tools and resources collections, but they were typically not very connected to what was going on in the world of classroom teachers. When I discovered that there was no regular means of communication between these communities and that a fairly large number of informal educators were already part of NSTA, I wanted to develop a communication medium—a journal—that would have the same review standards as NSTA’s other journals but was deliberately intended to bring in the informal science community. In many ways that’s still my main interest: How do we bring these communities together and provide a place where ideas and seriously reviewed work can be exchanged? Dennis Schatz [the founding field editor for CSL and incoming president of NSTA] was on detail at NSF [National Science Foundation] as a program manager at that time. We started talking about it, and eventually got a little money from NSF to get started. And the rest is history, as they say.

Beth: Thanks! Cristin, please share how Connected Science Learning brings value to ASTC and its members and why your organization is supporting this effort.

Cristin: So much of what David just shared is part of the rationale behind ASTC’s support of Connected Science Learning. I joined ASTC a little over a year ago and, at that time, I went on a listening tour to science museums, science centers, and our partners in the broader informal science learning community. I heard over and over again comments that make me think that Connected Science Learning is so relevant. One is that science museums recognize that they have existing partnerships, that they sit in a complex ecosystem where learners in STEM are able to tap into a variety of resources—whether that’s in the formal system, after-school programs, or at the science museum, for example—and that better linking providers of STEM education by connecting research to practice is so important. We can learn from each other across informal and formal, in-school and after-school, summertime learning and even the private sector, which is engaging with that ecosystem through approaches like mentorship and apprenticeship. These are all opportunities that allow an individual in a community to forge a new connection with science and STEM. And so, better linking those together is a smart thing to do. I also heard that there is an appetite for understanding practices that work and the evidence behind what makes a practice effective for science engagement or science communication. This curiosity about what’s happening in the ecosystem is something I heard clearly from science museums, and I know is shared by the NSTA community. Today, there is so much connection between formal and informal—there are classroom teachers who receive professional development and curriculum ideas from the informal community, and vice versa—who contribute to, volunteer in, and bring their students to science museums. We are already networked, so becoming a learning community is very important for our shared future.

Beth: The recent federal Strategy for STEM Education called out the importance of blending successful educational practices from across the learning landscape. Both of you have some policy background; what can you add about how the government is thinking about STEM education?

David:  I think the report is an important signal that there’s a very strong national interest, with lots of threads, around STEM education. The threads come from the private sector and out-of-school programs, as Cristin mentioned, as well as a movement within K–12 education to promote STEM programs and STEM schools. The federal report recognizes very clearly two important aspects of STEM education. The one that most people think of is workforce development; kids need to be educated for jobs that don’t yet exist, but that are almost certainly going to depend in a significant way on STEM subjects and the ways in which those subjects are brought together to solve problems. This workforce concern has the private sector energized—simply getting enough workers to do existing work, let alone what’s coming in the future. But I think the other part that’s emphasized in the plan is equally important: Given the role of technology and advancements in science in the world today, being an informed citizen requires people to have an understanding of STEM subjects, how to evaluate evidence, and how to look at the implications of the things that we’re finding. [This is an issue] that hasn’t received a lot of prominence in the past, yet we can make the case that it’s become much more important. The report actually captured both of these aspects, and if the plan is going to be successful, it must influence agencies as they develop their own implementation plans. It will outline ways that these various groups can continue to work together, whether it’s a K–12 classroom, after-school or out-of-school program, programs run at museums and zoos, or activities sponsored and fostered by national corporations and local companies. I think the report provides encouragement that can be used to make progress on these two broad fronts.

Cristin: I would add that there is emphasis in the report on all of us being part of reaching its goals, on STEM education for all Americans. Formal education, informal education, the private sector, and community organizations have a role to play. There’s a direct tie to the mission of Connected Science Learning. At ASTC we have been reflecting on the goals of the report and noting—with our partners in formal education and throughout communities across the United States—that there are five areas where we’re seeing a lot of alignment with our shared work. One is our commitment to reaching underserved and underrepresented groups and communities, and the practices that are effective in doing that. Connected Science Learning really speaks to the effectiveness of reaching more audiences. The second area is how we look at ecosystem approaches themselves so that those practices can be blended, which could not be more core to Connected Science Learning. The third [area focuses on] transdisciplinary learning as an approach to connect more people with STEM fields. The idea that if you learn throughout your life, that if you are given an opportunity to make your community better through STEM, you’re more likely to stick with it—that’s something that requires all of our organizations to be working together, because to provide somebody a transdisciplinary experience takes more than one of our institutions alone. And the call from the report to focus on mathematics and computer science, and even more broadly computer science habits of mind and 21st-century skills, is an emphasis where there is a lot of shared work across both informal and formal learning environments. Finally, [the report highlights] the idea that technology has a role to play in education itself. There are classrooms across the country that are connecting with technology as a teaching and learning tool. And there are museums that use and experiment  with technology as a communication and learning platform. What can we, share with the federal government about the effectiveness of technology-focused learning? I see a lot of opportunities for Connected Science Learning to continue to tell the story of connections between formal and informal, and influence the government’s understanding of what’s actually happening on the ground with ecosystems around this learning, and what helps us make progress toward the ambitious goals of the plan.

Beth: We’ve talked a little bit about the audience that Connected Science Learning intends to reach, whom we hope will be contributors and advocates and stakeholders [for the journal]. There’s more we can do to ensure that all of the voices of this [STEM] community are represented as readers and authors. I’m wondering what ideas you have for building awareness of Connected Science Learning in that broader community of STEM education stakeholders, and for continuing to improve the value of CSL for those stakeholders.

Cristin: We’ve been describing this broad view of who and what types of organizations contribute to science learning. I think one question we have is: As the readers of Connected Science Learning are thinking about their partners in the private sector and other educational institutions, is there a benefit to those partners being more actively engaged in the Connected Science Learning community? [We want] to truly make good on the vision for these connections across the learning ecosystem. It would be great to see voices from across that ecosystem reflected in who’s writing for and not just who’s reading Connected Science Learning. Together, ASTC and NSTA are thinking about our national-level networks that could be engaged and connected to the work of this journal, to the writing in this journal, so that members are encouraged from across those networks to contribute.

David: I think Cristin has captured [our thinking]. NSTA continues to explore the informal space that we have not really played in a lot in the past. We’ve had conversations with out-of-school programs like the Girl Scouts and the National 4-H program. Both of those organizations have strong STEM education programs. They represent the kind of broader reach we’re trying to get, and one of the ways that I think we’ll succeed is by encouraging contributions from folks in those programs. There’s another aspect that I think will become increasingly important in terms of extending CSL’s reach: the fact that it’s published online. It’s also open access, so you don’t need to be a member of NSTA or ASTC to read every article. This is a novel publishing environment for NSTA. And it’s one that has a lot of opportunity for discovery that a traditional, member-based print journal simply doesn’t have. I think that the format is giving us an opportunity to experiment with a different kind of publication. I’m hoping that these advantages [will lead to] a greater reach. [There is also] an opportunity for readers to contribute by commenting on articles. With our printed journals, the publication time is sufficiently long that you often don’t get a dialogue. I’d like to see Connected Science Learning  build more engagement through online dialogue around the items that are published. This would help to build those bridges among the different participating communities.

Cristin: And to really build together a learning community—yes, exactly.

Beth: Exciting ideas! David, you mentioned earlier that CSL was about three years in the making before the first issue was published. I’ve noted that it’s been almost three years now since that first issue. Where would NSTA and ASTC like to see Connected Science Learning go in the future? What would you like to see it accomplish?

David: I have an ambitious hope that CSL might [one day] be seen as an initiative that helped lead NSTA into the current century and get out of the last one. We’re engaged in a process of doing that very broadly across the association right now, where we’re in the throes of implementing a digital engagement strategy that makes interaction with the association look much more like our interactions with most of the rest of the things in our lives. Right now, CSL is one of the few things that NSTA does that really looks like that, with its being published online. Having an opportunity for interaction, I think, is exactly the sort of thing that the association world needs. If associations are going to prosper in the future, [they need to be] a place where discussion can take place, as well as being the source of authoritative, best-practice, solid information. I see CSL helping lead NSTA in that direction. It’s my hope that we have an opportunity to have a much broader discussion about what STEM education is, what and how it relates to the rest of society, and how it connects to practical problems. I see CSL as a leading program going forward, and a critical component of that is the [expansion] of what we mean by “teaching science.”

Cristin: I think if that vision comes to fruition, and we have created an open forum where these ideas and connections can flourish, wouldn’t it be amazing if five years from now as the federal government and communities across the country are assessing their progress against national goals, we can look back at Connected Science Learning as being a place where [STEM education stakeholders] found a spark to try something new, inspiration for new connections within their community, and practices they want to put to work within their own institutions? I hope that we can, through that open-forum approach, help move some of the national needles related to connecting more people to STEM.

David: And, you know there’s reason not to view that as a fantasy. I think there’s real substance to it. I would love to claim personal credit for getting Connected Science Learning that really nice recognition in the [Strategy for STEM Education], but I had nothing to do with it. That’s a really good signal that Connected Science Learning has a vision that’s much broader than that of [just] ASTC and NSTA.

Cristin: Yes. The last thing I would say is that we welcome feedback from contributors to and readers of Connected Science Learning. We would love to know what would make this a more fruitful forum for collaborations across the learning ecosystem. Our doors are always open to learn more about the community’s good ideas for how to better leverage this platform.

Beth: Wow! You two set me up for the perfect closing. Readers, we invite you to join the conversation. Please take this opportunity to share your questions, comments, and ideas about Connected Science Learning and how we can continue to grow its reach and value. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Beth Murphy, PhD (bmurphy@nsta.org) is field editor for Connected Science Learning and an independent STEM education consultant with expertise in fostering collaboration between organizations and schools, providing professional learning experiences for educators, and implementing program evaluation that supports practitioners to do their best work. David L. Evans is the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, the world's largest professional organization representing science educators of all grade levels. Cristin Dorgelo (CDorgelo@astc.org) is president and CEO of the Association of Science–Technology Centers in Washington, DC.

“It was a perfect day. I was impressed with the students’ curiosity, questions, and seriousness about volcanic rocks and how engaged and focused they were for the entire day,” said American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) scientist and curator Jim Webster after working with a group of 44 middle and high school students and 11 science teachers from 10 different New York City public schools, all of whom participated in an event called Advances in Geosciences.

Advances in Geosciences brings together recent graduates of the AMNH Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, some of their students, and a working AMNH scientist to visit museum exhibit halls, collect rocks at an underground zinc mine (Figure 1), and tour a scientist’s lab (Figure 2). This one-day program is full of experiences that could not occur inside a classroom. Students gather in the scientist’s lab for a firsthand view of mechanical equipment that melts rocks through a process that replicates the natural development of igneous rocks. In the museum, teachers and students sketch and describe large volcanic rock samples. In the field, teachers eagerly introduce their students to teachers and students from other schools as they examine and collect rocks. Deep in the zinc mine, an audible gasp rises from the group when mine staff switch on the lights that cause walls of underground minerals to fluoresce in a rainbow of colors.

Launched in 2012, the 15-month AMNH MAT program began as a pilot initiative to help address a critical shortage of qualified Earth science teachers in New York State, particularly in high-needs schools. In 2015 the MAT program officially joined the Museum’s New York State–accredited Richard Gilder Graduate School. MAT is the first urban teaching residency to be offered by a museum, and courses are taught by museum scientists and education faculty. Program participants complete classroom residencies at high-need schools, as well as two museum residencies—one in a summer youth science program and the other in a science practicum. Graduates receive a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree, with a specialization in Earth science for grades 7–12. After graduation, teachers participate in the museum’s teacher induction program, which extends relationships between the MAT program and its graduates beyond course work and into the first two years of professional employment. The museum’s induction program provides monthly cohort meetings, teaching and learning activities, and classroom mentoring and coaching.

This article describes the Advances in Geosciences program, part of AMNH’s teacher induction, which facilitates learning experiences among new science teachers, their students, and practicing scientists. Advances in Geosciences features non–school day events that support new science teachers outside of school as they deepen students’ understanding of the work of scientists, build on Earth science content, and engage with students from other New York City schools (Figure 3). An equally important goal is to build on first- and second-year MAT teachers’ knowledge of AMNH, camaraderie with the cohort, and familiarity with the scientist, all of which allow the teachers to facilitate learning from a place of strength.

This article includes varied perspectives from students, teachers, and a MAT faculty scientist who participated in Advances in Geosciences, and suggests the value of integrating informal and formal learning environments to enhance reciprocal development for new teachers and their students (Avraamidou and Roth 2016). Although the program is specific to AMNH and MAT graduates in New York City, there are implications for informal science educators to forge relationships with teacher induction initiatives affiliated with school districts and universities to support new science teachers and their students in a critical period—the first years.

When looking outside of school for support, teacher education departments have shown growing interest in the potential role of museums and other informal science education institutions (ISEIs) in preservice teacher development. Some teacher education programs use ISEIs’ resources in their course work, supporting preservice teachers’ expansion of their own content knowledge and their development of hands-on field trip experiences—activities that strengthen student engagement (Aquino, Kelly, and Bayne 2010). Teachers’ early exposure to informal science education institutions broadens their perception of instruction and the instructional support available for the classroom (Kisiel 2014). In addition to student engagement, museum affordances such as exhibits, people, and objects play a role in this critical phase of early teacher identity development (Avraamidou 2014; Adams and Gupta 2017). Informal science education environments and staff are well-positioned to provide support by building on preservice teacher education programs as new science teachers transition into the classroom.

New teacher induction

New teacher induction programs typically focus on instructional coaching and analysis of student work to guide teacher development, with the ultimate goal of accelerating student outcomes in the first years of teaching (Goldrick et al. 2012). Over the past 25 years, there has been an increase of induction programs (Ingersoll and Strong 2011), with 29 states requiring at least one type of professional development for new teachers (Goldrick 2016). Drawing on various beginning teacher survey data, Ronfeldt and McQueen (2017) suggest that participation in induction initiatives predict a decreased likelihood of attrition. The first few years of teaching are a critical window for informal science institutions to forge relationships with new teacher induction initiatives affiliated with school districts and universities.

For new teachers, building classroom rapport and student engagement are still some of the most challenging aspects of the profession (Feiman-Nemser 2012). To address this challenge, one approach within the museum’s new teacher induction program is to build on MAT graduates’ capacity to use the museum with their students. Out-of-school environments can be used as a vehicle to shift students’ thinking about themselves and science learning, as well teachers’ sense of themselves and their students (Kisiel 2014; Avraamidou 2014).

How did we start Advances in Geosciences?

In the third year of the museum’s new teacher induction program, scientist, MAT faculty member, and Earth and planetary sciences curator Jim Webster received funding for broader impacts and educational outreach as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) award. These funds were used to support MAT teachers and their students with a program offering an in-depth examination of how scientists study the Earth. The NSF award covered transportation for teachers and students to the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey; notebooks for students; rock samples for teachers’ classrooms; and breakfast and lunch at AMNH. The museum’s new teacher induction budget provided stipends for teachers.

The planning of Advances in Geosciences has been a collaborative effort, with MAT induction faculty (science educators who are MAT faculty) working with Webster and with MAT participants. Teachers were adamant that students go behind the scenes of a scientist’s lab, engage in an informal conversation with the scientist, and spend time in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth while at the museum. In addition, the teachers had visited Sterling Hill with Webster as part of their summer practicum and felt that it was important to provide a similar educational experience for their students.

While preparing for the first Advances in Geosciences day, Webster, teachers, and MAT induction faculty were excited and apprehensive for different reasons. MAT induction faculty were concerned about attracting a sufficient number of MAT graduates and their students. From their experience working with new teachers, faculty knew that teachers frequently felt tired and might be hesitant to make any teaching commitments beyond their school days, especially the extra burden of coming in on the weekend with some of their students. Webster presented his own concerns as a research scientist; he had limited experience teaching large groups of teenagers who did not know each other, and he was not sure how it would all work. To alleviate concerns, induction staff worked with MAT teachers and Webster to plan the day. During monthly new teacher induction meetings, teachers gave input and shared ideas of how to organize the day so that it would include a variety of immersive activities to review and extend learning about rocks and minerals. Teachers also planned time to share some of their favorite Earth science exhibits with students.

Because teachers were asked to bring three to five students, teachers were worried about how they would recruit. Teachers shared strategies with each other and, in the end, some teachers brought students who were struggling in class and were disengaged, other teachers asked students to write short statements on why they wanted to participate, and still others chose students who were particularly interested in Earth science.

The event was called Advances in Geosciences to symbolize that this was a day of high expectations that would build on Earth science classroom instruction and give an inside view of the work of scientists. Working with the teachers and the scientist, the agenda and student learning goals were outlined. The primary goal of the day was to inspire students to develop their academic path in science by providing an immersive experience that expanded on the Earth science curriculum. Content learning goals aligned with the New York State Earth science curriculum were identified: how rocks and minerals support understanding of Earth’s history, and how minerals and rocks are formed as a result of specific environmental conditions. Different pedagogical strategies were used to foster students’ use of the museum to deepen their understanding of rocks and expose them to scientists’ use of rocks to study the Earth. For example, an initial activity used silent sketching of rock specimens to elicit student ideas about igneous rocks (Figure 4). Teachers designed prompts for small-group discussion and facilitated exchanges among students from different schools. In addition, teachers were asked to have students share what they learned back in the classroom. Some teachers had students document the day with photos and make short PowerPoint presentations, whereas other students wrote about the experience.

To understand what resonated for students, MAT induction staff, with support from the teachers, developed a feedback form that asked students to reflect on what they learned. The form also included a few multiple-choice and short-answer questions from the Earth science Regents exam, which is a New York State standardized science exam that most of the students would be expected to take at the end of the school year (Figures 5 and 6). Among Regents questions, the most relevant ones are about characteristics of intrusive igneous rocks (mafic and felsic); processes that form these types of rocks; the sequencing of events that caused particular rock formations, from the oldest to youngest; and interpretation of bedrock maps. The addition of the Regents questions reinforces for new teachers how out-of-school learning can support students’ school learning. Below are two examples.

What did the day look like at the museum?

The day started before the museum opened in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth with an investigation on volcanic rocks. In different areas of the exhibit, teachers and the scientist both facilitated student discussion about why there are ocean basins, continents, and mountains. This was followed by a sketching activity in which students observed large volcanic rock specimens (Figures 7, 8, and 9). These activities helped students from different schools engage with the topic and the museum, and get familiar with each other. The silent sketching activity generated student observations and inferences, and elicited their ideas about igneous rocks.

Webster answered students’ questions about the rock specimens and gave a conversational talk about his research on igneous rocks. After lunch, students and teachers were placed in three groups that rotated through Webster’s lab and different museum halls, where teachers shared some of their favorite exhibits and students sketched rock specimens. In his lab, Webster uses controlled conditions to simulate the process of igneous rock formation. He asked students to call him “Jim” to emphasize the program’s informal approach, which was designed to encourage questions and discussion from students and provide a point of connection to the scientist in what was otherwise a potentially intimidating environment. The point of connection for first-year teacher Kin Tsoi’s high school students was being in the environment:

"The most important part about showing students the lab is that it took them out of the mindset that education only happens in the classroom. It helped them think that education is more life-long. A lot of them did not have any idea about why we did anything in class. They couldn’t understand why we looked at things like geography, geology, astronomy, weather.”

The context of the museum and the scientist’s lab, and having time to talk with a working scientist, made the content relevant for students (Figure 10).

For a majority of students, it was their first time meeting a scientist and visiting a science lab. Danny (we use only first names for student confidentiality), a tenth grader, commented, “I actually went to a real scientist’s lab for the first time of my life.” The time in the lab resonated with students, as exemplified by an eighth grader’s reflection:

"My favorite part was going to the lab and seeing how geologists perform experiments on rocks and learning about Jim’s lab and looking at the instruments he uses and how he uses them.”

Webster thought the lab experience resonated with the students because of he was able to show his “enthusiasm for the lab work.” He continued:

"I love being in my lab. I think sharing the melting rock samples and weaving a story, and to be in a room full of equipment. It is not a whole bunch of computer screens and lights and electronics. It is values and gauges. It is a little more mechanical and I wonder if that is a little easier to appreciate.”

One student, Jolene, an eighth grader, commented on how the lab visit shifted her thinking about the work of scientists:

"What left an impression on me was the lab, where scientists use different tools to help analyze different rocks, minerals, and etc. I remember when we went into the lab … we saw all of the equipment that they used and they described what each one were used for. The day shifted my thinking because there were so many experts that knew so many things and personally I’m not into geology and I’m more into astronomy but despite my interests, the whole trip really grabbed my undivided attention.”

What did the day look like at the mine?

The Sterling Hill Mining Museum is less than 50 miles from New York City. Mining in this location for zinc, iron, and manganese began in the late 1730s. The mine closed in 1986, and several years later opened as an educational museum. According to Webster, the sulfur-poor zinc ore minerals of the Sterling Hill Mine and the nearby Franklin Mine form a mineralogical enigma; nothing else quite like it exists on Earth. These two mines combined have 350 different types of minerals—representing 10% of minerals known to science (Bostwick 2008)—91 of which fluoresce.

In the MAT program, Sterling Hill Mining Museum holds a special place because it is part of the MAT summer science practicum and a favorite for many participants because they see rocks fluoresce in the mine and get to use hammers to collect rocks for their future classrooms. Each year, on the bus back to the museum, the MAT graduates strategize how they might bring their future students to Sterling Hill. The teachers know these types of learning experiences can make a difference in building an interest in science. In other words, the day resonates with participants—both as learners and preservice teachers—sparking their desire to incorporate this experience into their teaching. For students, learning in the context of the mine and the adjacent museum solidifies many classroom rock and mineral concepts.

The Advances in Geosciences day at Sterling Hill Mining Museum included a tour of an underground zinc mine and museum (Figure 11) and the opportunity to collect rock specimens in the field side by side with teachers and Webster (Figures 12 and 13).

Planning the trip to Sterling Hill Mining Museum when most teachers were teaching their rocks and minerals unit allowed educators to complement the experience back in the classroom. Students took photos during the trip and led class presentations that included using ultraviolet lights, which the MAT induction program bought for the teachers, to show the bright green and red colors of fluorescent zinc exposed in the minerals. Principal Yvette Rivera commented that for her students, “The day was a wonderful mesh of both science and education and that also captured the real-life experience of how geology has a real-life impact.”

Teacher and student feedback

Teachers and students shared their reactions to Advances in Geosciences through feedback form data, post-trip emails, and follow-up small-group conversations that took place at schools over a two-month period following the visit to the mine. A few themes emerged that highlight the reciprocal learning that occurs during these days for new teachers and their students: enhanced classroom rapport, connections between science knowledge and professions, and changes in students’ perception of rocks.

The experiences in the lab and talking with Webster were of high interest to students, and this was evident in the responses on the feedback forms.

Enhanced classroom rapport

For teachers and students, the shared experience helps both learn from each other, and build and solidify classroom rapport. After participating in Advances in Geosciences, first-year teacher Kin Tsoi commented:

"I chose the trip to reengage students in the content that we were working on and to build up a relationship with these students. This worked pretty well. They were more willing to come to afterschool for help, although the results varied at times.”

For new teachers, getting to know students and building rapport is a critical first step in the first years of teaching. This is one reason why getting out of the classroom can support new teacher development. Second-year teacher Erin Richley, who has participated in all three offerings of Advances in Geosciences, highlights the reciprocal development for building relationships at school:

"I think the biggest thing I got out of that first Geoscience day was how it made such an impact on Manu [a student] and my relationship. I think it meant a lot to her that I wanted to show her part of my world, and following that experience and into the next year teaching her again, we had a more trusting relationship.”

These comments highlight the value in getting to know students in an expanded capacity, and its potential role in supporting teachers in building their classroom community.

Students’ comments reflect that they also valued the opportunity to see their teachers outside the classroom and to learn along with them. For example, Fateah, an eighth grader, summarized her impression about her teacher: “My teacher, Mr. G. is obsessed with rocks. It was a nice new thing to learn about my teacher.” Michael, an 11th-grade student, shares what he learned about his teacher, Caity Tully, and what he thinks she learned about him:

"I mentioned to Caity prior to the trip that I have already taken Earth science in middle school and in a sense boasting that I had a 93 on the Regents. Acknowledging this information, she thought that I would be more knowledgeable about geology and I failed her by not really knowing the answer to her questions. She was fine with all of that. I had questions along the trip and she would always try to give me an answer or she would ask Maya, another teacher, if she didn’t know the answer. I admire her for that; her attempt to give me the solution, knowing that she doesn’t know it, yet still strives to figure it out is a rare quality to have.”

Michael describes how his teacher is accepting of him even if he is not able to apply what he has learned in previous Earth science classes to the rocks and minerals in the mine. At the same time, he sees his teacher not knowing the answer and how she consults with a fellow teacher for the answer. This is a parallel process of both of them showing their vulnerability of not knowing, and that not knowing is okay.

Connections between science knowledge and professions

Advances in Geosciences days offered students the opportunity to see professional science in action. For example, one ninth-grade student noted: “I liked seeing Jim’s lab, it was interesting to see how a scientist works pretty much on a daily basis.” At Sterling Hill Mine, Miranda, a 10th grader, made a connection between the science, the rocks, the mining profession, and her new awareness of rocks. Miranda states,

"I always thought that I wanted to become a doctor, because I love math and science. However, this trip made me wants to become … [a scientist] … about rocks. I never knew I would be so interested in learning about rocks. I also enjoyed learning about mining. For example, the canary bird fascinated me. I thought it was a smart idea to use the birds to see if there was enough oxygen. I never looked down at rocks and identify them. But after the trip, I constantly look at rocks.”

These students expanded their ideas about science careers and awareness that science could lead to a career that they would find interesting (Archer 2015).

Opportunities such as Advances in Geosciences also allow the MAT graduates to share their expertise with their students. As a result, students indicated that they saw their teachers as scientists in the field. For example, when asked how he liked interacting with a scientist, Michael, the 11th-grade student, said: “Technically the teachers are scientists so yes, I did interact with scientists.” Both teachers’ sense of identity and students’ interpretations of their teachers’ identity shifted toward “scientist” on these days. Second-year teacher Erin Richley said:

"It made me feel like I can still be a part of the larger scientific community. It helped me solidify the idea that I can help expose my students to what made me love geology, and still teach them something at the same time. It also helped to remind me I still had a place at the museum, and that I should bring my students back to see it from a more insider perspective.”

Advances in Geosciences days highlight the value the teachers place on being affiliated with a science community and the museum.

Changes in students’ perception of rocks

The trips afforded new teachers contextualized opportunities to teach about the dynamic properties of rocks. Before the trip to the mine, some students were dismissive of rocks as boring; however, after the trip, students’ comments revealed a new relationship to these rocks. Genesis, a 10th-grade student, reflected on how the trip inspired a new awareness of rocks in her neighborhood:

"I really enjoyed the experience of going into an actual mine that was once functional. … I learned that there are minerals that glow in the dark. There are minerals that come in different shapes, sizes, and colors. I learned as a person I would really enjoy doing this as a profession. I was like to look for actual rocks … That very weekend I went to the park …”

We tend to assume change happens only when we encounter living beings, but nonliving things can also change us and provide awareness, and this is a more holistic approach to being in the world (Bai 2015). Another student captured this, saying:

"I enjoyed being able to pick our own samples of the minerals. First as a group but then individually with the rock hammer. I enjoyed this because I had never picked rocks before and it was really cool to see the minerals that made up the rocks.”

Students were surprised by how engaged they got with the rocks at the mine and the museum. Through this experience, students had an interactive and authentic experience, not only with their teachers and other students, but also with the rocks as scientific specimens.

Improvement and implications

To date, MAT induction faculty have hosted three Advances in Geosciences days and plan on two events this year. Areas of potential improvement for Advances in Geosciences include developing standardized preparation activities for the day and extended learning opportunities back into the classroom that align with middle and high school curricula. MAT induction faculty would like to develop a plan to expand the evaluation efforts to understand the influence of the program as the new teachers continue in their teaching careers and students move through their academic/career pathways. In addition, teachers and MAT induction faculty will develop a teacher survey and expand the student survey to measure outcomes to inform how to build on these days both in and out of the classroom. Webster recently submitted a proposal for additional funding from NSF for broader impacts in education to continue this component of work in MAT new teacher induction. The program has the potential to be replicated by other scientists and informal science institutions collaborating with induction programs in their own communities.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to MAT teachers Dejan Božović, Kevin Gostomski, Erin Richley, Jessica Sharoff, Kin Tsoi, and Caity Tully and their students, who contributed to this article. A special thanks to Bernadette Doykos and Jamie Wallace for their comments. Support for Advances in Geosciences is provided by National Science Foundation award EAR-1219484.

Cristina Trowbridge (ctrowbridge@amnh.org)  is senior manager of professional development at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, New York.