This evaluation plan is unique involving all partici pants in constructing and revising the curriculum and electronic tools as an integral part of the learning process; thus, an object of instruction is extended and exemplified through the eval uation itself. The evaluation be comes a means to learn about scientific inquiry as well as a means to assess and revise the curriculum and tools. The approach is multi-faceted in terms of criteria, participants, and instrumentation and de pends on triangulation of results to reach conclusions (Marchionini, 1989). The plan will be implemented in three phases that corre spond to the development of curricula, electronic tools, and the ESS community during the first year of the project; expansion of the curriculum and com munity during the second year; and sustainability actions during the third year. Because the ESS depends on communication and collaboration made possible by Internet, the evaluation will provide evidence for similar educational efforts that take advantage of the national information infrastructure. Furthermore, the tools and methods de veloped for assessing communication and collaboration will themselves be come part of the national information infrastructure.
The evaluation will focus on criteria related to five goals of the project, 1) producing and aggregating valid and accurate content and activities related to ESS; 2) learning outcomes for individual students, teams of students, mentors, and faculty, and the ESS community as a whole; 3) development of electronic systems and interfaces; 4) creating a communication environment through networking that allows diverse groups of students and scientists to ex change ideas and collab orate on science problems; and 5) using this environment to foster collaboration skills as a form of critical thinking and professional work. Each of these goals generate questions that will serve to guide the evaluation. Drawing upon the information in the formative evaluation of participating faculty, we propose to assess and document requirements of students and faculty in their implementation of the curriculum. By recording requests for support and advice, we can identify and prioritize needs. We seek to identify the minimal and optimal requirements for carrying out the curriculum.
The Earth System Science Community Curriculum Testbed
keeler@jacks.gsfc.nasa.gov