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ALERT Mission Statement
Science literacy is a national goal. But what is the real substance of such literacy? Who should be expected to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills? How can science literacy be achieved nationwide given the lack of infrastructure and money? Groups such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have addressed such concerns in their "Science for All Americans" and pose a daunting challenge for what can actually be done.

Both the scientific and popular literature are rich in their concern for the reform of science education in America. Efforts to enhance the interdependence among science, technology, and society are widespread at many levels, especially with the advent of the information superhighway and its potential to change our world. How can real teachers accomplish this in the short term?

A concerned group of educators, scientists and technologists have undertaken an exploratory program ( Project ALERT ) to help impact science education in the geosciences and space sciences. The focus population for our efforts is twofold: (1) university students who will be the future teachers in K-12 education, and, (2) teachers already in the classroom. Our point of leverage within the educational world is the California State Universities, one of the largest educational systems in the nation, and where the majority of teachers in California are trained. By focusing on the science classes that are the primary science education for teachers, we hope to provide a means to reverse the downward spiral of students who know little about science - becoming teachers who are ill-prepared to teach science - causing students to dislike science. By also focusing on the science methods classes for students preparing for credentialing, we can reinforce this learning with people who will be science teachers. By providing the same software and data resources to existing teachers, we hope to empower these teachers to change their approach to science teaching by the ease and attractiveness of this alternative to present methods. Using Internet and programs such as Mosaic along with stand-alone CD ROM's with the software and data sets, we hope to reach schools whether or not they have access to Internet.

Representatives from the California State University system have established a partnership with the technological expertise in imaging and information systems at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Professors from California State University at Long Beach, California State University at Los Angeles, and San Diego State have joined with JPL scientists to bring the CSU system and NASA into a shared vision of impacting science literacy. In addition, professors from two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio) are an integral part of the team to develop the curriculum and computer capability to reach the entire nation from a beginning in California. As a team of scientist, educators, and information specialists, we hope to provide pathways and templates to allow others to teach and learn. By distributing the products in modular forms that are easily restructured, we hope to enable individual teachers to easily reconstruct the curricula for their own needs on an on-going basis.

A powerful aspect of this project is that the subject matter includes cutting-edge, active science for interactive learning and discovery. Data from space missions, observation of the Earth, and active science programs provide the data to augment the classroom learning environment and show why science is important to society as a whole. By using such information to enhance the teachers' ability to teach and to promote problem solving and critical thinking skills, we think that science literacy can be distinctly impacted. By using tools for delivering these resource modules via Internet and Mosaic, as well as JPL-developed software and CD-ROM's, we will be able to provide these capabilities at little or no cost. If the students, future teachers, and current teachers are hooked into the magnificence of this mode of learning as integrated into active learning exercises, then the program should take off by itself. Widespread usage of the curricula and information systems will be a major mark of its success and is easily measurable.

Participants in the program at this time include: Beth Ambos, California State University at Long Beach; Eric Frost, San Diego State University; Milan Mijic, California State University at Los Angeles; David Kerven and Avare Stewart, Clark Atlanta University; Lee Esprit, Central State University; Edward Ng, Mike Martin, Irene Woerner, and co-workers at JPL; Freda Cheung, UCLA; Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey; and Bill Kurth, University of Iowa.