Announcing Teachers & Researchers - Exploring and Collaborating (TREC)
Interested teachers and host researchers can apply now to participate in
the 2004 Arctic field season!
Applications must be received by Monday, February 16, 2004
For further information, please contact:
Kayt Sunwood
Phone: 907-474-1600
sunwood [at] arcus.org
and visit the TREC website at:
http://www.arcus.org/trec/index.html
BACKGROUND
ARCUS, in partnership with VECO Polar Resources, announces the Teachers
& Researchers - Exploring and Collaborating (TREC) program, an
educational research experience in which K-12 teachers participate in
Arctic research, working closely with scientists, as a pathway to
improving science education through teachers' experiences in scientific
inquiry. Participating TREC teachers will serve as a conduit for
reciprocal exchange of experience and knowledge between researchers and
educators, and as a foundation for a growing community of students,
educators, researchers, and the general public engaged in science
teaching and learning.
The Arctic serves as a laboratory of multidisciplinary research projects
using cutting-edge techniques in a challenging environment to address
questions at the local, regional, and global scale. People living in the
circum-Arctic have coped successfully over millennia with an environment
that includes some of the most extreme conditions on the planet,
accumulating an extensive body of environmental knowledge as well as
keen awareness of ecosystem changes. TREC builds on the outstanding
scientific and cultural opportunities of the Arctic to link research and
education through intriguing topics that will engage students and a
public interested in exploring new regions and scientific mysteries.
PROGRAM DETAILS
TREC is a collaborative learning community of educators and researchers
facilitated and sustained through TREC field experiences shared through
the Internet. TREC provides professional development for teachers who
participate in field research projects as well as educators who connect
through the Internet utilizing the materials developed and archived in
the TREC website.
Three interwoven professional development tracks: 1) pedagogy (teaching,
learning, making knowledge accessible), 2) technology (computer
applications, online connections and communication, creation of sharable
learning objects and activities), and 3) applied Arctic research
(immersion in cutting edge research in the Arctic, transfer of this
research into the classroom and community) will increase content
knowledge, enhance teaching skills, and build a collaborative network of
researchers, teachers, and communities.
Researchers and research teams will collaborate with teachers,
integrating research and education and infusing inquiry-based science
into classrooms and communities. This collaboration invigorates science
teaching and learning and instills in young people an enthusiasm for
science, inquiry, and working together to address questions important to
their communities.
Join the TREC! Check out the TREC web site for more information about
TREC program - including the expectations for participating researchers,
the roles and responsibilities of teachers placed in field research
experiences, TREC program orientation and field safety training, and
information for those collaborating and connecting online. You do not
have to go to the field to participate in and benefit from the TREC
experience. Find out about the many other ways you can contribute to and
benefit from the TREC program.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
An expedited application process is essential in order to select
teachers and researchers for a TREC field experience, match teachers
with field projects, and put teachers in the field for this research
season.
Applications must be received by Monday, February 16, 2004. We expect
that applicants will be notified of selection decisions by Monday, 1
March 2004.
For further information please contact:
Kayt Sunwood at
Phone: 907-474-1600
sunwood [at] arcus.org
and go to:
http://www.arcus.org/trec/index.html
Funding for TREC is provided by the National Science Foundation Office
of Polar Programs Arctic Sciences Section, with logistical support from
VECO Polar Resources.