Ocean Explorers

Publications from the Ocean Explorers project are available in portable document file (PDF) format. Click on the publication title to download it.

Evaluating the Ocean Explorers Project: First Year Results (PDF, 228KB)

This paper reviews characteristics of teachers who are participating in the project and evaluation results from the project's first year of operation. The paper focuses on participating teachers' experience and comfort levels with GIS at the beginning of the project, strategies the project has used to increase their knowledge and comfort, and lessons learned from implementing those strategies.

Focus Group Report (PDF, 265KB) (February 2005)

Midway through the project, Ocean Explorers participants responded to open-ended questions on the quality of their experiences to date and any additional support they might need from project staff. This report summarizes their responses to the questions and information gathered during focus groups held during a Think Tank event in January 2005. It looks at the quality of the Ocean Explorers experience, how to attract females and minorities to Information Technology (IT) careers, and teachers and IT careers.

Geographic Information Science for Ocean Education: Mapping the Invisible World for Student Understanding

This paper describes three education projects--Ocean Explorers, Mapping and Ocean Sanctuary, and Exploring Data with GIS to Experience Sanctuaries--conducted by the Center for Image Processing in Education and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. It looks at some of the barriers to implementation of GIS, and suggests that many of the obstacles can be overcome by creativity and changes in the way teachers manage their classrooms.

The National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) is granting permission for the Center for Image Processing in Education to reprint the article, "Geographic Information Science for Ocean Education: Mapping the Invisible World for Student Understanding," written by Steven Moore, Jenny Brady, Laura Francis, and Julie Bursek; and excerpted from Current: The Journal of Marine Education, Volume 21, Number 1, 2005. Copyright 2005 National Marine Educators Association. All rights reserved. For more information on how to obtain a hard copy of this issue or to find out more about the NMEA and their publications, please visit their Web site at www.marine-ed.org/ .

Lessons Learned from the ITEST Ocean Explorers Project (PDF, 1795KB)

This paper reviews lessons learned from working with a single cohort of teachers as they constructed ArcView 3.X, ArcGIS 9, MyWorld, and ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education projects over a three-year period. The paper focuses on barriers teachers experience in implementing GIS as an instructional technology and how Ocean Explorers worked to help teachers overcome those barriers.

Ocean Explorers Final Evaluation Report (PDF, 1238KB) (August 2006)

The final evaluation report focuses on five areas: (1) teacher assessment of the Ocean Explorers project; (2) journal responses and Lesson Development Retreat evaluations; (3) teacher survey of practices and attitudes; (4) four team case studies; and (5) project conclusions/lessons learned.

Ocean Explorers Final Report to the National Science Foundation's ITEST Program (PDF, KB)

This report summarizes the activities, outcomes, and lessons learned by the Center for Image Processing in Education during Ocean Explorers.