The Field Experiences for Science Teachers (FEST) Program: Involving Connecticut High School Science Teachers in Field Seismology

The Field Experiences for Science Teachers (FEST) Program, based in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, provides field seismology experiences to secondary school science teachers in Connecticut. Research experiences for K-12 science teachers have been shown in the past to improve students’ test scores and encourage inquiry-based teaching in the science classroom. FEST provides one-week sessions for teachers that include one day of orientation and four days of field work experience on the 15-station broadband Seismic Experiment for Imaging Structure beneath Connecticut. Here, I describe the FEST program, including strategies for teacher recruitment, the structure of the program, and lessons learned from the first three program sessions. FEST has demonstrated that field seismology experiments can provide high school teachers with a fun, engaging, and highly immersive field experience that provides a benefit that is out of proportion to a relatively modest time commitment. Participation in FEST has exposed teacher participants to concepts in seismology, introduced them to resources for teaching about seismology in their classroom, and provided them with a meaningful summer research experience.