The British Columbia Colleges and Univerisites Earth Sciences Committee exists to aid in the fulfillment of the mandate of the BC Council on Admissions and Transfers by facilitating admission and transfer arrangements relating to Earth Science courses among educational institiutions of BC.
The following abstract was submitted by Dileep Athaide and Carlo Giovanella (emeritus Committee members) for the GeoSciEd II conference in Hilo, Hawaii in July 1997. This abstract describes the purpose and history of our Articulation committee.
Earth Sciences Articulation in the College/University System,
Province of British Columbia, Canada
Webster's dictionary defines articulation as the ‘act or manner of joining' . As used here, articulation refers most specifically to the meshing of content of course offerings from different institutions. In British Columbia , we have an organization that we believe may be unique in its function of addressing this and related educational concerns.
The BC Earth Sciences Articulation Committee is a government-sponsored organization which meets annually to bring together teachers of introductory geology from three universities and fifteen colleges from across the province. Its beginnings go back to about 1970, when a need arose to coordinate the teaching of introductory geology at the newly-created network of community colleges, with the existing geology program at the University of BC . From an informal start, the association has evolved into the present Committee, which is formalized under the umbrella of a Provincial Government agency (BC Council on Admissions and Transfers). The Earth Sciences is one of about 75 disciplines that have independent articulation committees within the province's post-secondary academic system. Government sponsorship ensures that all institutions actively support the articulation process.
The objectives of the Articulation Committee are to:
· examine and share curriculum content, resources, and teaching methodology;
· facilitate transferability of course credits, mostly from college to university;
· provide opportunities for professional development, mainly in the form of field trips;
· promote professional interaction, and provide support for members and programs;
· present a forum for liaison with industry and government agencies;
· maintain a dialogue with representatives from the secondary-school system, and offer educational support for high school earth science and geology programs.
The annual meeting comprises a business session and a field excursion, and is hosted each year by a different institution. This provides an opportunity to visit a variety of geologic regions around the province. For example, the 1997 meeting included an extended visit to the Queen Charlotte Islands .
A particularly ambitious project for the Committee was the organization of an exceptional 5-day field course in May 1996, which examined the terranes of the southern Canadian Cordillera, from Calgary to Vancouver . Financial support for this was obtained from both industry (Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists) and government (Canadian Geological Foundation).
We submit that Earth Science articulation in the college/university system in British Columbia has been remarkably beneficial, and could provide a model for other educators to consider.
by Dileep Athaide and Carlo Giovanella, Vancouver BC , 1997
At the 2006 meeting of Articulation Committee Chairs and System Liaison Persons there was a session devoted to sharing ideas on Articulation Committee Best and Worst Practices. Many of the results of this session are mirrored by what we see in our own Articulation Committee meetings. Although we fulfill many of the best Committee Practices, there are many issues that we also identify with in the Worst Practices.
This website was developed to enhance member communication between annual meetings as well as between our Committee and other Committees (specifically Geography). We all enjoy the professional connections and idea sharing that occurs at annual meetings and occasional joint meetings with Geography, but we often find that the time is too short. An active discussion group during the year will improve articulation of courses and focus attention on challenges and issues that may arise during the time between annual meetings. This web page will help to identify major issues that the next meeting should concentrate on in the roundtable discussion as opposed to just reading out institutional reports.
The ultimate goal of this web page is to enhance communication between Earth Science Committee members between annual meetings, to enhance collegiality between our members and Geography Articulation members and to streamline future meetings by identifying transfer issues, challenges and concerns well in advance of meeting times.