Maury Project: 25 Years Supporting Teacher Professional Development in Physical Oceanography

The Maury Project is a unique partnership of the American Meteorological Society and the Oceanography Department of the United States Naval Academy. For 25 years, the Maury Project has enriched pre-college teachers understanding in topics related to the physical foundations of oceanography. Each summer since 1994, the program has conducted a two-week resident workshop for teachers on a variety of topics in physical oceanography. The workshop includes lectures conducted by USNA Oceanography Department faculty, tours of facilities in the local area that support research and operational activities relevant to physical oceanography, genuine field experiences to acquire skills, and materials and guidance to conduct peer training for teachers across the country. Eleven single topic modules in physical oceanography provide a central core for the peer-training sessions. To date, approximately 600 teachers have participated in the workshops. They have in turn conducted over 1100 sessions for over 13,500 teachers allowing more teachers and students to benefit from their experiences. To see the multiplying effect of this program, consider that since 2002; at least 731 workshops have been conducted by Maury peer trainers across the country, reaching 8851 teachers. And while AMS does not have exact records on the period 1994-2001, it is estimated that at least several thousand additional persons were impacted by Maury peer training. Most of those trained were teachers, who from AMS evaluation data have been shown to impact, on average, about 150 students per year. Therefore the peer-training multiplier effort demonstrates the large-scale impact made by 24 highly trained teachers per summer USNA workshop.

This presentation will retrospectively examine the 25 year history of the Maury Project and the impact it has had on promoting pre-college education on the physical foundations of oceanography.