making your course worth their time
TRANSCRIPT
This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331
Making your course worth their time:Maximizing student learning in your
introductory and General Education Earth science courses
Anne E. Egger, Central Washington University
Current NAGT PresidentInTeGrate co-PI
Who are you?• Raise your hand if:
– You teach an intro/Gen Ed course in Earth science (college or high school)
– Keep your hand up if that course includes significant content in climate or sustainability
• If you don’t teach, type in the chat window very briefly what you do.
Learning goals
By the end of this hour, you will be able to:• Consider the role of introductory Earth
science undergraduate courses in the larger educational landscape
• Describe some strategies for fitting in to that landscape better.
How we will get there
• Guiding documents• Comparing the guiding documents with
what goes on in our classrooms• Strategies for change
Guiding documents: The literaciesBackground and guiding documents
Background and guiding documents
Background and guiding documents
Guiding documents: The standards
Background and guiding documents
Key themes• Emphasis on human interactions with Earth
– How Earth affects us (hazards, climate)– How we affect Earth (sustainability, climate)
• Emphasis on engaging in the process of science– Science and engineering practices and learning by doing– Techniques and tools that Earth scientists use
Why does this matter for us, as geoscientists in post-secondary education?
Background and guiding documents
In 2011, 103,992 students obtained Bachelor’s degrees
in EducationCompared to 4671 in
geosciences
Background and guiding documents
We teach a lot of future teachers
Millions of high school students will be coming to us having grown up on these
Background and guiding documents
Will we be ready for them?
What is different?Top 12 chapter titles• Plate tectonics• Minerals/Earth Materials• Earthquakes • Groundwater• Streams/running water• Geologic time/deep time• Sedimentary rocks• Igneous Rocks and magma• Metamorphism and
Metamorphic rocks• Volcanoes• Glaciers/glaciation• Mass wasting/landslides
Disciplinary core ideas• Earth’s Systems
– Earth’s materials and systems
– Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions
– The role of water in Earth’s surface processes
– Weather and climate– Biogeology
• Earth and human activity– Natural resources– Natural hazards– Human impacts on Earth
systems– Global climate change
In particular….
In the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), • The word “sustainability” appears only in the Earth and space
science Disciplinary Core Ideas;• The emphasis on connections between Earth and human
activity is much greater than in previous standards (both the NSES and state standards).
The burden is on us.
Content preparation of science teachers
Percent of practicing teachers with ≥1 college course in: Elementary Middle HighLife science 90 96 91
Chemistry 47 72 93
Physics 32 61 86
Earth/space science 65 75 61Environmental science 33 57 56
Engineering 1 7 14
Science education 89 89 85
Banilower et al., 2013
Content preparation of science teachers
Percent of practicing teachers with a college course in: Middle HighIntroductory earth/space science 75 61
One or more beyond intro 28 30
Geology 22 23
Astronomy 16 17
Physical geography 14 11
Meteorology 9 11
Oceanography 10 10
Banilower et al., 2013
What do they learn in that intro course?
Textbook PublisherTotal
chapters
Chapters w/ human impacts Title of chapter
Chapter number
1 Pearson 24 1 Global climate change 21
2 Pearson 20 1 Global climate change 20
3 Pearson 21 1 Global Warming: Real-time Change in the Earth System 21
4 Norton 23 1 Global Change In The Earth System 23
5 Norton 21 1 Global Change In The Earth System 21
6 McGraw-Hill 19 0 n/a n/a
7 McGraw-Hill 17 1 Global change 17
8 Wiley 21 1 Climate and our Changing Planet 19
9 Wiley 15 0 n/a n/a
Insight from textbooks
What do we expect them to teach?
What we teach
What we want them to teach
What they take
Currently…
New resources from InTeGrateCurricular materials that …• Address interdisciplinary grand challenges
society is facing• Use science and engineering practices,
highlighting geoscientific thinking• Make use of real-world data and issues• Develop students’ systems thinking• Follow best practices in teaching and learning• Are adaptable and adoptable by instructors in a
variety of settings
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate
Materials make use of strategies that are well-aligned with NGSS and for effectively incorporating sustainability
Strategy #1Shift focus from causes to consequences
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/mineral_resources/index.html
Earth PhenomenonCauses Consequences
• Why is petroleum found where it is?
• How do metallic ores form?
• What processes concentrate gold and silver?
Scarcity/uneven
distribution of mineral
resources• Why does the price of cobalt
change so much? • What effect does it have on
mining and the rest of the economy?
• How does the distribution and availability of a mineral resource impact how it is valued and used by humans?
Strategy #1Shift focus from causes to consequences
Chapter 23, Tarbuck & Lutgens
InTeGrate module
How do I do that?
Example: Cobalt Supply disruption during
conflict in Zaire
WHY COBALT IS FOUND IN SOME PLACES, NOT OTHERS
Along the way, you have to address…
HS performance expectation
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity
Strategy #2Connect Earth processes to people
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/index.html
Earth ProcessEarth results People results
• What landforms are created by rivers?
• How do rivers move sediment?
• How do rivers change along their length?
Flowing water
• How do we determine the flood recurrence interval of rivers?
• What kinds of things can we do to mitigate the effects of flooding?
• Where is flooding the most common and most damaging?
Strategy #2Connect Earth processes to people
Chapter 14, Tarbuck & Lutgens
InTeGrate module
How do I do it?
Calculate the recurrence interval
SHAPE, LANDFORMS, AND LONGITUDINAL PROFILE OF RIVERS
Along the way, you have to address…
HS performance expectation
Your turn:
• Think about how you might use these (and other) strategies. In the chat window, type:– How you might “flip” a current topic in your
intro course to address a sustainability concept OR
– A strategy you’ve used to connect Earth science content to societal issues OR
– A topic or issue you would like strategy suggestions for
Going forward:• You have a critical role in preparing future
teachers—and all students—to address sustainability, but we’re not there yet
• You don’t have to start from scratch!– Known strategies that work– Materials ready to go– http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/geosci_methods/index.html
Strategy #3Practice decision-making
Problem: To what extent should we build and/or rebuild coastal communities?
• In groups, students select a coastal region• Then they research key data types for that
region (sea level rise, model predictions)• AND characteristics of the community they
selected• Finally, they write an “argument- and evidence-
based position paper” on:
Assembling the evidence
Reaching a decision and articulating the argument
Measuring student learning
• Working hypotheses: Evidence from geoscience data• Working hypotheses: Support from scientific literature• Organization and use of transitions to clarify relationships among ideas• Use of a formal style and standard English