RockCamp and K-12 Earth Science Education in West Virginia

REPINE, THOMAS E.,  PHYLLIS BARNHART,  and ROBERT E. BEHLING

RockCamp is the dominate vehicle for enhancing K-12 earth science education in West Virginia. Each two-week, residency-based summer institute provides participants with the opportunity to personally experience and reflect on the thematic and student-involved pedagogy advocated by state and national science education standards. Constant contact and reinforcement for the 180 teachers who have participated in the program is conducted through an on-going series of letters, fieldtrips, short courses, and professional meetings organized by the West Virginia Geological Survey's Education Specialist. Participants are asked to use ideas generated by their RockCamp experiences as inspiration for the development of earth science activities relevant to their classroom specific setting.

Graduates are invited to become "Earth Science Outreach and Resource Specialists" by receiving additional on-site RockCamp II training to plan, organize, and conduct locally-relevant workshops and field trips for colleagues. Forty-one specialists have conducted 93 events enhancing the earth science education of classroom students by facilitating direct dissemination of RockCamp activities and materials to fellow educators.

RockCamp began in 1992 with funding supplied by the National Science Foundation and the West Virginia Department of Education. Ongoing support from the West Virginia Legislature and the West Virginia Coal Association allows RockCamp to continue assisting additional teachers during 1995 and 1996. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91021©1997 AAPG Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas.