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THE 1990 JOINT EDUCATION INITIATIVE  (JEdI)
An Agent of Change for Education
By James D. Sproull

Why do we need change?

Within the past ten years, many studies, reports, and commissions
have described a need for a restructuring of the secondary school
curriculum.   While  declaring that our nation has failed to meet
our needs,  A Nation at Risk,  1983,  suggested major curriculum,
standards,  and teaching reforms.   In 1986 the Carnegie Forum on
Education  and the Economy called for reform in the  quality  and
evaluation of teaching in our schools and suggested plans for the
restructuring  of  schools  to  enable  teachers  to  teach  more
effectively.   Ernest  Boyer  in  1983 presented  an  agenda  for
national reform of education specifying a core curriculum with an
emphasis   on  the  study  of  mathematics  and  the  impact   of
technology.

Science  education has not gone unscathed.   In 1983 the Carnegie
Corporation  in  its Education and Economic  Progress.  Toward  a
National  Educational  Policy:   The  Federal  Role,  recommended
increasing  general scientific awareness as well  as  stimulating
scientific   involvement   in   curriculum   development.     The
culminating  study and subsequent document pertaining to  science
and mathematics education was distributed in 1989 by the American
Association  for  the  Advancement of  Science.   In  that  year,
PROJECT  2061  and its supporting book Science for All  Americans
proposed  broad changes in education.   In showing the  need  for
curriculum change, it first posed the question "What should every
American  high  school  graduate  know by  the  return  of  Comet
Halley?"  In  its introduction it summarizes the past  decade  of
curriculum  studies:  "A  cascade of recent studies has  made  it
abundantly clear that by both national standards and world norms,
U.S.  education is failing to adequately educate enough students-
and  hence failing the nation.   By all accounts,  America has no
more  urgent  priority than the reform of education  in  science,
mathematics, and technology."

On a global scale,  the lack of scientific literacy is made clear
by  our lack of knowledge and understanding of our  relationships
to  our  planet and its inhabitants.   This  lack  of  scientific
literacy has a farther reaching effect upon us than our inability
to decide whether or not to build on a flood plain.   In a speech
to the 1989 International Geological Congress, later reprinted in
the Journal of Geological Education,  E-an Zen,  U.S.  Geological
Survey  Scientist Emeritus,  made this observation:  "During  the
time we sit here to discuss science education,  it is likely that
another  species  will have become extinct somewhere  because  of
man's arrogance, complacency and ignorance."

There  should be little argument that science education needs  to
keep up with scientific and technological advances.  Irrespective
of the above arguments,  the teaching of science should always be
evolving,  a  reflection  of science itself.   The United  States
however has not always kept up; although this country is a leader
in  scientific and technological advances,  within the  classroom
the standard medium of presentation is still the blackboard.

SCIENCE  FOR ALL AMERICANS asks that in changing  curriculum  the
following be considered:  (excerpted)

*    "To  ensure scientific literacy of all  students,  curricula
     must  be  changed  to reduce the sheer  amount  of  material
     covered;   to  weaken  or  eliminate  rigid  subject  matter
     boundaries;  to pay more attention to the connections  among
     science,   mathematics,   and  technology;  to  present  the
     scientific  endeavor  as a social enterprise  that  strongly
     influences-and  is  influenced by-human thought and  action;
     and to foster scientific ways of thinking."

*    "The  effective  teaching  of  science,   mathematics,   and
     technology (or any other body of knowledge and skills)  must
     be based on learning principles ...  .   Moreover,  teaching
     related  to scientific literacy needs to be consistent  with
     the   spirit   and  character  of  scientific  inquiry   and
     scientific values.  ..."

The JEdI project seeks to address some of these concerns.  As the
JEdI activities were developed, curriculum boundaries disappeared
leaving a common thread.   That commonality is to observe,  mark,
and  analyze change found in its different forms and  its  impact
upon human activities and the Earth.  Instead of studying about a
particular  subject,  e.g.,  a  meteorological and  oceanographic
event  called  coastal flooding,  students are asked  to  analyze
coastal  flooding's impact upon a particular  area,  predict  its
disturbance  of human activities,  and speculate about costs  and
risks.  JEdI activities have been developed around PROJECT 2061's
theme  of  change and how change weaves its way through  science,
the earth, and our lives.

While creating these activities, the JEdI participants easily and
naturally  employed an inquiry approach.   Instead of  presenting
facts  or  requiring  students  to  find  and  list  facts,   the
activities  suggest that questions be asked and  answered:   What
are the changes in Antarctic sea ice over a two year period? What
could be the additional element in this spectrum?   What are  the
relationships  between the ozone levels for Washington  D.C.  (or
your hometown) and the Antarctic?

Because  there is such an enormous amount of information added to
the  curriculum each year,  teachers are swamped and  foundering.
What is to be taken out,  added to, or changed in the curriculum?
Compounding this problem,  the edge in information transfer  that
we  hold and enjoy in other areas of our society is now  outmoded
and  outdated and could even be argued is an embarrassment to our
educational community.

As a teacher of Earth Science for the past thirteen years, I have
always  been  frustrated  and troubled  by  information  transfer
problems.   In the past, science teachers have displayed pictures
from  magazines,   photocopied  newspaper  articles,   and   have
distributed  serendipitous "give aways" from government  agencies
such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Aeronautics  and  Space Administration and  the  U.S.  Geological
Survey.  Accessing and using current data and images has become a
major  task for today's science teacher.   Many teachers are  now
ready  and  willing to take the risks associated with using  "raw
and   unedited"  (relative  to  today's  science   classroom   or
laboratory  investigations)  datasets.   Although this is  not  a
comfortable step for a teacher to take,  the interest by teachers
and rationale of scientific pedagogy is undeniable.

With the introduction of CD-ROM technology and powerful classroom
computers  paired with high resolution monitors,  the problem  of
accessing data will be changed to one of managing data.  Students
will  learn  first  hand how remotely sensed  images  are  built,
science  projects  will be enhanced,  and teachers will  have  to
learn the technologies of data analysis which scientists use on a
daily basis.

How does the JEdI Project encourage change?

The  Joint  Education  Initiative (JEdI) project is  designed  to
empower education,  teachers,  and students with real and current
scientific  data.   Datasets,  made available from  the  National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic
and  Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),  and the U.S.  Geological
Survey  (USGS),  have been given to education.   These  datasets,
through  the  medium of CD-ROM technology  and  powerful  desktop
computers,  have  the potential of changing our way of  teaching.
Making  available  what scientists use on a  daily  basis,  i.e.,
image  enhancement  techniques,  the teachers in the summer  JEdI
workshop  have developed classroom activities which will  utilize
the power of these technological features and enable teachers  to
bring scientific research datasets to the classroom.



PROJECT HISTORY

During  the early part of 1990,  the USGS initiated a feasibility
study  of  the JEdI project.   With the cooperation of  NASA  and
NOAA, approximately 30 teachers from the Washington, DC area were
given  opportunities  to  become  familiar  with  many  of  these
datasets.   After these "test drives," teachers,  scientists, and
project leaders met to decide two issues: 1) should JEdI continue
and 2) if it continued, what datasets should be made available to
teachers.   At this meeting, the participating teachers expressed
their overwhelming approval for the project and suggested a range
of  datasets  to  be  included on  the  JEdI  discs.   From  this
response,  Nimbus Information Systems agreed to press three discs
instead  of  what was initially expected to be  only  one.   That
agreement  meant  that  the project now  had  the  capability  of
accessing 2100 megabytes of scientific information.

The  Workshop:   From  its  initial stages,  teachers  have  been
actively involved.   During the February and March "test drives,"
teachers worked along with scientists to develop and enhance  the
available  datasets.   Teachers  were involved in  selecting  the
datasets,  in determining their depth and scope, and in designing
the 1990 JEdI Teachers Summer Workshop.

Twenty  participants  were  selected  from  a  national  pool  of
interested  candidates.   These  teachers were given the task  of
designing classroom activities around the datasets.   Some of the
unique aspects of the workshop for the teachers were:

*    Three  graduate credits in Remote Sensing Applications  from
     George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia;

*    Experience using a powerful desktop computer;

*    Access  to  real,  comprehensive,  and  complete  scientific
     datasets;

*    Ability   to   work  directly   with   scientists,   develop
     activities,  discuss the scientists' research, and engage in
     a mentor relationship;

*    Publication,  through the USGS,  of the activities they  had
     developed.

The  workshop,  for the most part,  was unfunded.   Most teachers
traveled at their own expense,  project people opened their homes
to out-of-town participants,  and computers were loaned by  Tandy
Corporation.   Contribution from the Virginia State Department of
Education   supported  field  trips  and  some  meals.    At  the
conclusion of the summer workshop, Sun Moon Star Computer Systems
announced  a donation of CD-ROM computer systems,  one  for  each
participant.   These  systems were delivered in the fall of  1990
and are presently being used in participants' classrooms.

 JEdI OBJECTIVES

JEdI project team developed the following objectives:

*    Implementation  of  CD-ROM  technology into education  on  a
     national basis;

*    Implementation of NOAA,  NASA, and USGS datasets into school
     curricula;

*    Parallel  alignment  of  these activities  to  the  American
     Association  for  the Advancement of  Science  Project  2061
     goals;

*    Increased and ongoing industry support;

*    Cross  discipline and multi-grade approach in designing  and
     implementing the JEdI activities.

*    Demonstrate the need for powerful computers in the classroom
     environment;

*    Encourage the availability of computers in the classroom;

*    Demonstrate  the need for teacher preparation in the use  of
     remote   sensing,   imaging  processing  and  computers   as
     scientific tools.

A  successful  JEdI project will enable students and teachers  to
augment the school learning environment.   This enrichment of the
learning process and science will have far-reaching effects.   It
is conceivable that in the future students will be able to access
this  information in the classroom,  libraries,  and even in  the
home.   This  universality  of scientific datasets will  make  an
impact  on how science is viewed;  science will become  something
that is knowable but still mysterious and unpredictable.

   REFERENCES

Boyer,  E., 1983, High school: a report on secondary education in
America, Harper and Row, New York.

_____1983,  Education and economic progress.   Toward a  national
educational policy: the federal role, Carnegie Corporation of New
York, New York.

_____1983,  A  nation  at risk:  the imperative  for  educational
reform, The National Commission on Excellence in Education, U. S.
Department of Education, Washington, D. C..

_____1986,  A  nation prepared:  teachers for the 21 st  century,
Carnegie  Forum  on  Education and the  Economy,  Task  Force  on
Teaching as a Profession, New York.

_____1989,  Science  for all Americans,  American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Washington, D. C..

Zen,  E., 1990, Science literacy and why it is important, Journal
of Geological Education, v. 38, no. 5, pp 463-466.