FY 2008 Annual Report of Achievements - Gallaudet University

GLOBE
National mission priority area: Multiple priority areas
Principal Investigator(s)
Ellsworth, Mary S.
Snyder, H. David
Other Investigator(s)
MSSD science teachers:
Tao, Mark
Taylor, Kevin
Wynne, Dorothy
Project description
MSSD provides leadership and training for teachers of deaf students in the GLOBE (Global
Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program, sponsored by the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research and Colorado State University. GLOBE, an international
program, trains science teachers in the collection and analysis of scientific data. Students in more
than 7,000 schools in 60 countries collect data on their environment, analyze the data, and then
share it with other schools on the Internet. Training sessions occur over 4½ days and are designed
to familiarize teachers with GLOBE environmental measurement protocols, promote discussion of
good teaching strategies in the science classroom for deaf students, and create a sense of community
and a means of networking among the participating teachers.
The U.S. GLOBE Program enters into partnerships with U.S. organizations, which undertake
efforts to recruit GLOBE schools, train GLOBE teachers, and mentor GLOBE students in their
region of the country. Gallaudet University/Clerc Center is a GLOBE partner and works to ensure
that every school program serving deaf and hard of hearing students in the United States has the
opportunity to participate in the GLOBE Program by providing annual trainings and support.
Gallaudet University/Clerc Center has offered teacher trainings as a GLOBE partner since 1996.
Development
Prior years. Gallaudet University/Clerc Center became a GLOBE partner (formerly called a
GLOBE Franchise) in 1995. Since 1996, teacher trainings have been offered consisting of 4½ days
of workshops. Support for interpreters for the trainings has allowed fully integrated participation by
nonsigning public and private school teachers.
The District of Columbia Space Grant provides funding for the teacher trainings. As a
GLOBE partner, Gallaudet University/Clerc Center seeks ways to support trained teachers to
continue participating in GLOBE activities after they return to their home schools, including
providing basic equipment, a mailing list, and an occasional newsletter. Beginning in 2006, and again
in 2007, the Gallaudet University/Clerc Center GLOBE teacher training was offered as part of the
Clerc Center Summer Institute. The summer workshops featured presentations from invited deaf
professionals and invited guest speakers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
In FY 2007, the NSF and NASA began funding four new GLOBE projects, collectively
called the Earth System Science Projects (ESSPs). The Clerc Center principal investigators chose the
Seasons and Biomes ESSP for trainings and also for integration in the MSSD Science Department
curriculum. An MSSD science teacher and GLOBE trainer, along with 38 teachers and teacher
educators from around the world, gathered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus in March
and September 2008.
In 2007, the GLOBE Program invited an MSSD science teacher and GLOBE trainer to be
on the Access Advisory Board to provide advice on GLOBE’s new GLOBE School Network
A-107