Project CONVERGE: A Broader Impact Plan That Engaged Educators and Students in the Process of Polar Ocean Science Campaigns

CONVERGE, with National Science Foundation support, was a fully integrated scientific and broader impact program focused on a biological hotspot along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The objective of our approach was to connect field deployed Science Teams and our target audiences, middle and high school educators and students, through real-world data to elevate our audiences' experience from science-aware spectator to working scientist. Based on experience gained from prior work and a documented need to elevate the student experience in science, we applied a multitiered program that integrated existing methods of known success (educator professional development, daily Expedition Diary blogs, live videoconferences between the deployed Science Team and classrooms back in the United States) with new tools that enabled our student audience to participate in and conduct their own peer-reviewed science (data primers, proposal review, and a science symposium). Through a comprehensive evaluation program, educators reported a change in their teaching practice to increase students' data collection and analytical skills and provided more opportunities to authentically emulate the process of science and better understand the impacts of climate change in this Antarctic ecosystem. Additionally, the educators and students both reported personal connections to the data, which motivated the students to push their comfort zones when analyzing real-time data.