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National Science Foundation Awards UM $250,000 Research Grant to provide middle school classrooms with an authentic, user-centered and collaborative learning experience.

University of Montana researchers are teaming up with K-12 teachers of the Montana Geographic Alliance to develop and test middle school curriculum designed to illuminate cultural and environmental changes in North America while simultaneously teaching students cyber-based skills.

The National Science Foundation recently funded the project with a $250,000 grant from its Cyberinfrastructure Training, Education, Advancement and Mentoring for Our 21st Century Workforce program. The grant was awarded to Heather Almquist, faculty affiliate in UM’s Department of Geography; Sarah Halvorson, UM associate professor of geography, and Lisa Blank, UM professor of curriculum and instruction.

The curriculum aims to provide middle school classrooms with an authentic, user-centered and collaborative learning experience. Students will collect paleoecological, paleoclimate and archeolgocial records and combine them with Native American oral histories to develop a picture of past geographic conditions where no written record exists.

Using historical data, students will compare information from independent sources and various cultural perspectives to develop a robust understanding of natural- and human- induced changes on the landscape.

Students will learn to use cyber-based tools to conduct scholarly research, collaborate effectively with peers and communicate professionally with their intended audience. The project aims to be a model for introducing higher level cyber-based skills to middle school students. These skills typically are not employed until college, despite a number of studies that illustrate younger students are very capable of acquiring them.

http://news.umt.edu/2011/09/083211cybr.aspx

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