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Action Research Project Plan

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Description of ARP Goal:
"To improve access to the marine technology CoP through constructivist leadership and applied experiences."

What is your passion? My passion is learning and using technology to collect and disseminate knowledge related to our oceans. This ranges from using simple open circuit SCUBA and underwater still cameras, to piloting deep diving submersibles to photograph and videotape six gilled sharks at 2000 feet in their natural habitat. I embrace technology and readily accept change and challenges. I strive for excellence in projects that I decide to embark upon and am passionate about. I look at failure as a moment in time, before success is achieved. I enjoy creating media to be an advocate for marine technology.

What is your professional mission?
My professional mission is to be responsive to the educational and training needs of the local and national marine community that I serve. This community includes persons employed in the marine workforce, entry level trainees and those seeking personal enrichment or skill upgrading. I am committed to maintaining an extensive knowledge and skill base within the disciplines of education, diving and underwater technology. This mission is demonstrated through a continuous process of improvement, innovation and renewal.

What is your professional goal?
My professional goal is to enhance knowledge and skill within the marine technology discipline by providing access to relevant resources and well trained individuals. I seek to build strong knowledge and skill base in entry level trainees that foster a respect for work ethic and professional integrity. I strive to supplement employees’ knowledge and skill base with current trends and technology used in society and industry.

What are you choosing to improve and why? I am choosing to improve accessibility and applied experiences with underwater technology through constructivist learning for high school and college age students through participation in communities of practice. (CoP’s) Additionally, I hope that my efforts can begin to improve the way that industry views the investment of time and resources into educational activities. I also hope to improve the effectiveness of vocational education applied hands-on learning through constructivism.

Specifically, for this Action Research Project, I will help coordinate, develop and study a CoP-based educational effort which is part of a national Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition. During this process, I hope to be able to highlight the importance of constructivist learning to teachers, school administrators, legislators and persons within my marine technology CoP. I am seeking to enhance relationships between schools and marine technology CoP. Further to this, I also hope to be able to develop constructivist leadership in educators, CoP mentors as well as myself. This has potential far reaching impacts for my CoP and the participants of the project. Gaps between industry and education have always existed. This project permits that gap to be shortened. According to Dave Long at Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, one out of five jobs in California are ocean-related. Students and teachers need exposure to marine technology careers and tools that support transitions from school into the workforce.

Julie Bursek, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) education coordinator in Ventura, CA explained in a recent interview that there is a local and national resource monitoring issue. “We routinely need to study the ocean beyond the depths of SCUBA today.” she said. 70% of our planet is water and the average depth of the ocean is in excess of 12,000 fsw. This is well beyond diver range. As we look toward the ocean for evaluation and protection of its resources, our workforce increasingly utilizes deep submergence technology (submersibles and ROVs) to collect and evaluate data. This technology and related training and experiences are not readily available in K-12 schools. As the workforce cycles, the need for this type of technology in schools, will become increasingly apparent. This project is going to not only allow students and teachers to experience the tools, but construct them and meet industry players who have been directly involved in deep underwater intervention.

Functional off-the-shelf components related to this technology can be cost effectively delivered in the form of kits for the learning process to begin for deep sea exploration. Students can construct working mock-ups of real ROVs and build a knowledge and skill base for the future.

My action research proposal can be summarized by the following: " Our young people dream of doing unique things and being successful. Simply put, it is our job as adults to support that."

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