Federal Programs 
While NSF has not developed precoilege cur- 
ricula that deal with marine topics per se, the new 
marine science college courses that it has helped to 
develop have benefited nonspecialists as well as 
students who plan to go into marine science or engi- 
neering, or related fields. In addition, the Founda- 
tion’s Public Understanding of Science Program is 
involved; recently it funded a traveling lecture series 
entitled “Voyages Into Ocean Space.” 
The Office of Education administers the Envi- 
ronmental Education Act (Public Law 91-516). 
Some of the activities of the Office under this 
Act deal with the marine environment. The fiscal 
year 1978 budget for the entire program is $3.5 
million. Of this, about half goes to the support of 
elementary and secondary education, mostly for the 
development of new curricula. About 30 percent of 
it goes for adult community education, and the 
remaining portion supports research and develop- 
ment contracts.°* 
The Coast Guard coordinates a national boating 
safety education program in cooperation with all 
the States and various safety organizations. Finan- 
cial as well as technical and administrative assist- 
ance is provided. The 46,000-member volunteer 
Coast Guard Auxiliary also is active in_boating 
safety education. One ongoing program is to intro- 
duce boating education into the public school sys- 
tems and to certify instructors. The Coast Guard also 
distributes boating safety information to the media 
to build public awareness about safety. 
However, the Office of Sea Grant_is the main 
agency in the field _of general marine education. 
These activities are conducted through both the 
regular Sea Grant college programs and workshops 
and other programs of the Marine Advisory Service. 
During fiscal year 1976 and the transition quarter, 
the “Other Education” category included 55 projects 
supported by more than $2 million in Federal funds 
and $1.3 million in matching funds. Most of this 
money goes for traineeships and the development of 
new marine courses and curricula on both college 
and precollege levels. One major program is at the 
University of Delaware, where curricular materials 
in marine subjects for kindergarten through high 
school have been developed and evaluated. Its set 
of 75 learning units relating to the marine and 
coastal environment have been distributed nation- 
wide.*® 
"13.5. Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations. De- 
partments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare Appro- 
Priations for 1978, Hearings before subcommittee of Committee 
on Appropriations, 95th Congress, Ist session, part 5, p. 45. 
© Sea Grant Annual Report, op. cit. note 28, pp. 32, 39-40. 
The University of Delaware program also has been supported 
by the Office of Coastal Zone Management, the Office of En- 
vironmental Education, and others. 
Recent Developments 
In the past 2 years, both the Sea Grant Office and 
the Office of Education have been developing new 
policies for general marine education. They have 
also been in contact with each other, a step which 
recently led to an agreement between the two agen- 
cies to share information and coordinate programs. 
Both agencies seem to be influenced by growing 
public interest in marine education. One indication 
of the interest is an increasing number of marine 
courses around the country. Another is the recent 
creation of a Journal of Marine Education. This 
trend appears to be influenced by the general na- 
tional interest in the environment, and in fact “the 
new approach” in marine education is concerned with 
more than just marine science. 
The Office of Education’s interest in the marine 
environment is reflected in its support of the pre- 
viously mentioned University of Delaware project on 
curriculum development. However, the Office also is 
interested in developing new materials to inform 
students about marine careers; this is part of its 
overall “career education” program. A 1975 study 
funded by the Office examined general marine educa- 
tion, particularly the career-oriented part, and ap- 
pears to have stimulated much of the current Federal 
interest in the subject.*° 
At about the same time, people from the various 
Sea Grant colleges began discussing what Sea Grant’s 
role should be in precollege marine education. An 
April 1976 workshop at the Virginia Institute of Ma- 
rine Science (VIMS) at Wiitliamsburg, Va., examined 
the possible need for a redefinition of the Sea Grant 
role in this field. The result was an agreement that 
the oceans are increasingly important; that there is 
need for a “marine-literate” society as well as for 
programs which train marine professionals, techni- 
cians, and public managers; and that Sea Grant 
should be a catalyst in developing a new approach to 
marine education. 
A quasi-official rationale for this new approach 
was developed after the conference by Harold Good- 
win, formerly associated with the Office of Sea 
Grant. 
In a related document, Goodwin mentions that 
NSF, the Office of Education, and State and local 
agencies are involved in marine education. Then he 
adds, “But to other Federal agencies, marine educa- 
tion activities of any kind are peripheral to their main 
concerns, and Sea Grant remains the home and focus 
for marine education.” °* Goodwin and others are 
“U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office 
of Education. Marine Education: Guidelines for Curriculum De- 
velopment. Boston, Olympus Research Corporation, June 1975. 
® Harold L. Goodwin. “An Introduction to Marine Education.” 
Newark, Del., University of Delaware Sea Grant College Pro- 
gram, April 1977 draft for comment. 
°S Harold L. Goodwin. ‘‘Perspective on Sea Grant Marine Edu- 
cation.” Waimanalo, Hawati, The Oceanic Institute, August 1975. 
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