In June of 2017, the second POD Facilitation Academy was held in Flagstaff, AZ. We are pleased to report that this outstanding group of Facilitators helped make the Academy a great success. Their combined experience teaching, leading professional development and utilizing GIS to enhance instruction made for enthusiastic collaboration.
We engaged in an example Geospatial Inquiry around natural hazards and risk, explored pedagogical moves that can support Geospatial Inquiry, considered unique implications for implementation of Geospatial Inquiry in secondary classrooms, and explored ways to enhance a myriad of lessons in multiple subject areas using Geospatial Inquiry. Finally, we discussed professional development facilitation strategies. Evenings were filled with field trips to Lowell Observatory, the US Geological Survey Astrogeology Field Center, and of course, the Grand Canyon.
Facilitators are offering POD Teacher Workshops across the country. To find a POD Teacher Workshop near you, join our mailing list.
Since this is a design-based research project with the goal of seeing how the POD professional development model transfers to new contexts, we will engage in multiple improvement cycles. We have revised and continue to improve the POD Teacher Workshops based on Facilitator feedback. We look forward to collecting and analyzing data on the Teacher Workshops, implementation of lessons in secondary classrooms, and the impact of the project on student attitudes toward STEM and geospatial technology careers through 2019. Please visit often for research updates.
Please email podstemnau@gmail.com with any questions!