The Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU) provided professional development (CPD) workshops and resources for teachers and trainee teachers in Earth science Education across the UK between 2002 and 2015.

History

ESEU was first set up in 2002 with funding from the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA),[1] initially providing workshops in England and Scotland for secondary teachers. In January 2003, ESEU launched workshops in Wales.[2] A second lot of funding from Oil and Gas UK, the umbrella organization for the Oil and Gas industry in the UK, through OPITO, the Oil and Gas Academy, was secured in 2007[3] enabling ESEU to develop primary workshops in England and Wales at Key Stage 2 in 2009 and to launch new workshops in Scotland, written especially for the Curriculum for Excellence in 2010. Between 2002 and 2017, Christopher John Henry King was the Director of ESEU.[4][5]

Workshops

ESEU provided workshops at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4, and for the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, to teachers and to trainee teachers. Workshop fees were covered by ESEU. A team of 46 facilitators are spread across the UK and travel to schools to give workshops, taking rock samples and other equipment with them.

Practical, hands-on activities were used in the workshops, which use simple, easily available and cheap materials, such as party poppers, Potty Putty and Slinky springs.[6]

As well as activities for use in the classroom, ESEU also encouraged teachers to make the most of the outdoor environment as a teaching resource, using a gradual approach, starting by using the view from a classroom window, then the school grounds, a local graveyard or building stones in the local town and finally any local quarry or outcrop.[7]

ESEU workshops[8] were considered innovative practical and interactive.[9][10]

ESEU also provided online resources on earth science education, including a virtual rock kit, Scottish virtual activities, a rock reference sheet and videos of salol crystallising at different rates.[11] However ESEU was discontinued in 2016 after reformulations at the Keele University[12].

References

  1. ^ "Training Scheme Takes Earth-y Approach to Teaching Skills". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  2. ^ "ESEU - Launching Into Wales"
  3. ^ "OPITO Education activities". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  4. ^ University, Keele. "Chris King". Keele University. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  5. ^ King, Chris (September 2013). "Earth Science: It's All about the Processes". Primary Science. ISSN 0269-2465.
  6. ^ "'Flash bang demos' steal the show"
  7. ^ "Putting earth science teaching into its outdoor context" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  8. ^ "The Earth Science Education Unit's professional development workshop on 'The Carbon Question – cycling, releasing, capturing' for teachers of Key Stages 3 and 4 (King)". www.ase.org.uk. 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  9. ^ Parlamient UK (14 September 2011). "Written evidence submitted by the Earth Science Teachers' Association (Sch Sci 06)".
  10. ^ "Can a single, short continuing professional development workshop cause change in the classroom?". ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "ESEU Resources"
  12. ^ University, Keele. "Christopher King". Keele University. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
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