COSEE-Ocean Systems (OS), with a team of researchers and other experts from the University of Maine, New England Aquarium, and the Institute for Broadening Participation, was established to implement several integrated activities, each designed to improve COSEE's impact on rural and inland communities. COSEE-OS is one of 12 Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) and is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Since fall 2005, COSEE-OS has investigated issues in educational research that pertain to pedagogy, practice, and the learning process. User feedback has reinforced the desire for interactive products and processes that highlight fundamental concepts as well as their "big picture" connections. As a result, COSEE-OS is creating and evaluating tools that both highlight basic concepts and can be readily applied to other disciplines.
By improving science literacy using the exciting context of the ocean, COSEE-OS hopes to reach the broadest possible audience by:
- Building and training educator-scientist teams who work together to distinguish meaningful "key messages" for K–16 audiences
- Using concept mapping to help scientists and educators "be on the same page" when discussing ocean literacy topics
- Translating concept maps into innovative multimedia products
- Partnering with NASA instructional designers to showcase concepts within ocean systems contexts
- Offering a variety of free public webinars to help scientists and ocean science content reach broader audiences
- Supporting the use of real-time data by showcasing the research of eminent scientists and posting their data online for use by educators and students
COSEE-OS is making great strides in terms of integrating concepts and resources into highly flexible and engaging online delivery systems. In doing so, COSEE-OS is discovering what can be done to make the ocean relevant to people who are not living on the coast. If NASA can create materials that make people feel like they have visited other planets, why can't the same be accomplished for the ocean?
For more information, please contact COSEE-OS Director Annette deCharon.
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