Can we virtually immerse students in hands-on field experiences to develop observational, spatial, and problem-solving skills?
Moderated by GSE associate dean for faculty affairs Shelley Goldman, please join us for a conversation with Bryan Brown, associate professor of education at Stanford Graduate School of Education and Ryan Petterson, adjunct lecturer and director of field education at Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, on the development of virtual field trip experiences.
With support from Stanford’s Transforming Learning Accelerator, Bryan and Ryan will share how a proliferation of tools, technologies, and practices increases accessibility to remote places and creates platforms for shared experiences.
About the speakers:
Bryan Brown
Bryan A. Brown is an associate professor of teacher education. His research interest explores the relationship between student identity, discourse, classroom culture, and academic achievement in science education. He focuses on the social connotations and cultural politics of science discourse in small-group and whole-group interaction. Additionally, his research work in science education examines how teacher and student discourse serve to shape learning opportunities for students in science classrooms. Dr. Brown's work in science education in urban communities focuses on developing collaborative curricular cycles and classroom pedagogy based on developing discourse intensive instruction for urban learners. His research has expanded beyond his focus on science education, to include issues of college access in urban communities. His recent work explores how classroom and school culture shapes access to higher education. He conducts mixed methodological work exploring how race, language, and culture impact students learning in urban science classrooms.
Ryan Petterson
Ryan Petterson is the Director of Field Education at Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences and Staff Director of the Wrigley Field Program in Hawaii. Ryan teaches a variety of earth science field courses, including courses on teaching in the field. He also provides safety, logistics, and pedagogical support for field education across the school. His work includes improving diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in field courses, strengthening safety and risk management approaches, and in general providing resources for both students and faculty to improve overall learning outcomes for field activities. For the last year, he has applied that experience to designing, building, and using virtual field sites and virtual field trips and provides curriculum, training, and support for creation and use of virtual field sites.
Shelley Goldman
Professor Goldman is an educational anthropologist interested in the idea that learning takes place when students are actively engaged with each other, their teachers, and others in conversations, activities, content, and technologies. She is very interested in the power of real-world contexts to drive learning, and researches how people learn in and out of school. Goldman’s work focuses on creating opportunities for rich STEM learning, and for understanding how design thinking and technologies can create access and be transformational. Current work includes broadening participation in STEM via family activities, design-based engagements, and through empathy work with scientists doing outreach.
