Dogsledding professor and MSU alum Aaron Doering will talk about adventure learning and his 2,100-mile, six-month Arctic expedition during a lecture at MSU on Wednesday, March 30.
Doering will be guest speaker at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences' 2005 "Mankato and Beyond" lectureship. His talk, "Six Months Across the Arctic: Delivering an Adventure Learning Program to Millions of Students from a Tent," will be at 11 a.m. in Ostrander Auditorium, Centennial Student Union.
The lecture, free and open to students, faculty and the public, is the second annual College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Advisory Board "Mankato and Beyond" Lectureship.
Doering was part of Will Steger's seven-person dogsled expedition, "The Arctic Transect." Steger, Doering and other members of the international team used sleds and dogs to explore the Canadian territory of Nunavut. He developed a popular interactive online website that allowed K-12 students to follow the expedition on the internet.
Doering advocates "adventure learning" for K-12 students to enhance their scientific, environmental and geological knowledge, and has studied how it can be integrated into curricula to influence student learning and performance. He also studies and teaches about new K-12 distance learning technologies.
Doering is an educator, author, photographer and voice for the environment and authentic learning through the Internet. During his Arctic adventure he delivered education programs to more than one million students worldwide via the Internet.
Doering will relate stories of traveling across the Arctic with his six team members and 31 polar huskies. His multimedia presentation will illustrate the adventures of meeting the Inuit people, the excitement of a polar bear in camp, the stark beauty of the Arctic, and his sled falling through the ice on the second day, with temperatures minus -60°F.
An education instructor at the University of Minnesota, Doering teaches courses on how technology can be used to enhance learning. He holds a PhD. in instructional systems and technology and an MS in geography (from MSU, 1995). Doering's latest research studies factors that make an education course in technology successful, the foundation of adventure learning in K-12 classrooms, how teachers' styles are influenced by their experiences with online learning, and how geographic information systems can be used to enhance learning within science and social studies.
Before teaching at the University of Minnesota, he taught middle and high school social studies in Rochester, Minn., taking students to more than 17 countries to study physical and cultural geography. His love for geography stems from his farming roots in southern Minnesota.
His presentation is intended to appeal to teachers, professors and MSU students, including those studying the sciences, social sciences and education. Doering also is willing to speak to classes and to a community group during his visit.
For more information call (507) 389-5699.
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