This report raises the question of whether accreditation may be coming to the geology discipline, and attempts to quantify the positions on accreditation of academic department heads/chairs. The study makes a distinction between institutional and specialized (or disciplinary) accreditation and explores attitudes toward both types. Results of the analysis are presented with a discussion of two methods ... Full description.

Liberal arts colleges have in recent years placed an increasing emphasis on research. This article presents the results of a survey in which national liberal arts colleges were ranked based on publications in journals listed in the GeoRef Bibliographic Database. The results indicate that research is highly concentrated among a few of these colleges and has increased substantially over time. The rate ... Full description.

This article discusses how the two paradigms of education (Teaching-Centered and Learning-Centered) could affect the way faculty members are reviewed when undergoing peer review. The major challenge to fair and proper peer review arises from the need to review the growing number of instructors who conform to the Learning-Centered paradigm. Early preparation for peer review should help avoid the disjunction ... Full description.

NOTE: This is a large file, 8 mb in size! The Community Review System (CRS) of the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is intended to help educators seeking high-quality digital resources and resource creators who are seeking recognition for their resources. This article describes how CRS gathers web-based feedback from educators and learners who have used DLESE educational resources, ... Full description.

This article describes a multifaceted curriculum for use in earth science classes from secondary school to undergraduate level. The centerpiece of the curriculum is a project-based investigation of greenhouse warming that can be conducted during one or more lab sessions using off-the-shelf materials. This process provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the climate ... Full description.

This article discusses the need for environmental education (EE) among diverse (i.e non-white, non-hispanic) urban youth. Major points include the large proportion of these youths who live in urban settings far removed from nature, and three factors that converge to make EE for this group a priority. These are: 1) the greatest opportunities to understand about the environment exist at elementary levels; ... Full description.

Environmental educators in many states are finding that reform efforts are constraining the time they have to prepare and teach new activities. Therefore, they may find it appropriate to develop materials that address environmental education (EE) needs as well as augmenting state reform goals. This study provides an example in which a biodiversity curriculum guide, using the "Linking Florida's Natural ... Full description.

One of the ways in which universities can contribute to environmental awareness is by establishing programs to ensure that all graduates are environmentally literate. This article describes a case in which a module for business students on environmental management at the University of Wales, Swansea was developed to include an element of environmental reviewing. The way in which this is introduced ... Full description.

Traditional evaluation methods have been deemed ineffective for evaluating environmental education (EE) programs. In contrast, ongoing, participatory evaluation involving local stakeholders in problem identification, evaluation design, data collection, analysis, and use of results was found to provide improved and more useful results. This article describes a case in which participatory evaluation ... Full description.

The Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) is a consortium of universities, non-profit organizations, and professional education associations whose efforts are focused on identifying and implementing essential educator training services for delivery of quality and professional environmental education (EE). In this study, capacity building was evaluated at the state level and the ... Full description.