Workshop Program
Note: the 2010 workshop is over. Find out more about the "Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences" workshops, or read on for more information about the 2010 workshop.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
1:00-6:00 Workshop Registration
Participants check in for dorm assignment and meal card. See travel and logistics page for additional information. Workshop registration is from 1:00-4:30 at Studio 1 (736 Escondido Road) and then from 5:00-9:00 at the workshop opening reception in Branner Dining Hall. Please check in for the workshop and get your name badge and workshop notebook when you arrive.
Optional Pre-Workshop Events on Thursday Afternoon
2:30-3:30 Concurrent Sessions
- The Hydrologic Cycle of the American West during times of high CO2: A View from the Past - Page Chamberlain, Stanford University, Mitchell Building, Room 352 (third floor)
In this talk I am going to show how data originally collected for "pure" scientific reasons can be reinterpreted and morphed into answering questions that are more "applied" and societally relevant. Here I will use stable isotopic data from paleosols and paleolakes that range from modern to 60 million years ago to address questions on how the hydrologic cycle functioned in the American West during times of high carbon dioxide concentrations. Although climate models can be used to predict how water will be distributed in the future as carbon dioxide increases – they are still models that are subject to vast uncertainties and error. Another, and equally valid, approach to addressing changes in the hydrologic cycle attendant with climate change is to examine ancient records when the Earth was warmer. The underlying theme of this talk is how a scientist can guide their career to address ever moving and evolving scientific questions.
- Straddling the Divide Between Fundamental and Applied Research: From the San Andreas Fault to Carbon Sequestration - Mark Zoback, Stanford University, Mitchell Building, Hartley Conference Room (first floor)
The endless debate in academia over fundamental versus applied research is a classic false dichotomy. Students are well-served by a continuum of classes and research opportunities that engage a wide range of fundamental questions that as frequently have, as have not, immediate application to problems of societal needs. In my own case, my training in seismology, rock mechanics and fluid flow has allowed me work on a wide range of both fundamental and applied problems as diverse as achieving a better understanding of the forces that move tectonic plates, scientific drilling into the San Andreas fault and investigation of the feasibility of large scale geologic sequestration of CO2 for the control of greenhouse gas emissions.
Show session description
Hide3:45-4:45 Concurrent Sessions
- Families and Careers: A Panel Discussion - Robyn Wright Dunbar, moderator, Mitchell Building, Hartley Conference Room
Discussion of issues, opportunities, and choices associated with families and careers, including children, dual-career couples, and more, followed by questions from the participants.
- Tour of Labs and Equipment in the School of Earth Sciences - Jessica Warren, Marty Grove, and Caroline Harris - meet in Mitchell Building lobby (first floor) for start of tour
Workshop Begins
5:00-6:00 Reception and Icebreaker Activity - Branner Dining Hall (enter at back side of building; front doors are locked)
6:00-7:00 Dinner - Branner Dining Hall
7:00-9:00 Introductions and Opening Session - Branner Dining Hall
- Welcome, Introductions, Workshop Goals and Overview
Heather Macdonald and Robyn Wright Dunbar - Where Do You Want to Go? - A Spectrum of Academic Careers: Panel and Discussion
Workshop leaders from different types of colleges and universitiesEach panelist will give a short overview of his or her current job. Following the presentations, you will have an opportunity to ask questions. The goal is for participants to learn more about the diversity of job opportunities available in academia.
Our academic career profiles page has links to profiles of many academic geoscientists, including most of the 2010 Career Prep workshop leaders. We also have a collection of profiles of geoscientists in geoscience education, outreach, and public affairs.
Friday, July 30, 2010
7:00-8:00 Breakfast - Stern Dining Hall
8:15-8:35 Overview of Day and Preparing Now For Your Future Academic Career in the Geosciences (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1.3MB Jul26 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Heather Macdonald
Theme for the day: Who are you as a teacher?
8:40-9:40 Research on Learning: Concurrent Sessions
- Teaching Science: What Research Tells Us About Science and Learning (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1.3MB Jul28 10), Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Robyn Wright DunbarThis session--designed for those who are not yet familiar with the application of research on learning to teaching or who want a review--offers a brief survey of some of the factors that seem to most impact learning (e.g., students' prior knowledge, misconceptions, active engagement, learning styles, content organizational schemes, metacognition, etc.). We anticipate most of you will find that this session contains significant new information.
- Researching Student Learning in the Geosciences (PowerPoint 7.2MB Jul29 10)
Steve Semken - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room BarnesThis session is intended for those who have a working understanding of how learning research is applied to teaching. It will include a practical survey of quantitative and qualitative methods that can be used to collect and analyze data on student learning in different settings.
- Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences summarizes recent work and includes a list of recommended reading.
- Classroom Educational Research describes why and how to conduct educational research in your geoscience classroom.
- Web Center for Social Research Methods , the online companion to The Research Methods Knowledge Base
- Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains (more info)
- ConcepTests
- The Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) ( This site may be offline. )
9:40-10:00 Break
10:00-10:50 Teaching Breakout Sessions I
- Classroom Management (Acrobat (PDF) 81kB Jul19 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room McDowell
Katryn WieseMoving a class towards a shared goal can often come with obstacles that challenge the best of us. In this session, we will review strategies for dealing with common problems of the classroom, including handling emotional students, motivating poor performers, and helping students achieve their best performances.
- Designing Effective Science Courses (PowerPoint 722kB Jul19 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Robyn Wright DunbarApply what we know about science learning to design effective courses. This session hits the highlights setting instructional objectives, determining course format, and assessment.
- Designing Your Courses is an introduction to the process of intentional course design.
- Designing Effective and Innovative Courses is a comprehensive set of resources on course design, including a course design tutorial.
- Incorporating Data Analysis into Undergraduate Courses (PowerPoint 3.5MB Jul30 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Rachel O'Brien and Jeff MarshallThis session will provide examples to illustrate how you can incorporate local and/or global datasets into courses, thereby allowing undergraduate students opportunities to analyze and interpret real data. We will highlight case-studies that range in scope from short, in-class activities to multi-week course projects and discuss how to use archives as well as real-time datasets. Participants will examine a variety of data sources and begin identifying key concepts and/or course activities that would benefit from this practice.
- Internet resources for earth science datasets (Microsoft Word 64kB Jul19 10)
- The Cutting Edge page on Teaching with Data, Simulations and Models includes a searchable collection of classroom activities as well as data sets you might use to design your own.
- The Starting Point page on Using Investigative Cases describes investigative case-based learning and how to incorporate it into your courses.
11:00-11:50 Teaching Breakout Sessions II
- Developing Interactive Lectures (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1.7MB Jul27 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Heather Macdonald and Katryn WieseLecturing is an efficient ways for professors to deliver content to students, but even with the best lecturers, students sitting passively in a class may receive very little of the content delivered. We'll discuss numerous ways to make lectures an active experience for students, whether for a class of 20 or 200. Examples will include ideas for small group work, think-pair-share activities, demonstrations, various classroom assessment techniques, and using personal response systems (clickers) effectively with conceptests.
- The Starting Point page on Interactive Lectures links information on pedagogy with teaching examples.
- The Starting Point page on ConcepTests has information about ConcepTests and their uses, as well as a large library of examples.
- Classroom Response Systems (clickers) - Learn how to use clickers effectively in your classroom.
- Interactive Lecture Demonstrations - A Starting Point module with explanation and examples for integrating interactive lecture demonstrations in your classroom.
- Assessment of student learning - Information from the Course Design module about assessment techniques such as muddiest point and minute papers.
- Teaching Large Classes - Tips for engaging students in large classes.
Pedagogy in Action - Teaching Methods - This extensive list of pedagogies will guide you in learning about and using interactive teaching methods in your classroom.
- Integrating the Process of Science into your Teaching (PowerPoint 10.2MB Jul29 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Anne EggerStudents hold many misconceptions about how science really works, especially in the geosciences. In this session, we'll discuss strategies to address those misconceptions and integrate the real process of science into your teaching, from introductory science courses to beginning graduate courses.
- Teaching the Process of Science (a set of web pages by Anne Egger, on the SERC website)
- SERC resources for teaching the process of science (Acrobat (PDF) 258kB Jul20 10)
- Visionlearning Process of Science materials (Acrobat (PDF) 223kB Jul20 10)
- Misconceptions students have (Acrobat (PDF) 348kB Jul20 10)
- Metacognitive and Aesthetic Design of Presentation Slides (PowerPoint 21.6MB Jul21 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, McDowell Room
Steve SemkenPresentation graphics software is widely used in geoscience teaching, but straight out of the box, it can be pedagogically stifling. This session offers practical suggestions for enhancing your slide presentations, drawing on cognition and visualization research, information design, and aesthetic awareness.
- Principles of Universal Design
- Slides for Color Blind Audiences
- Vischeck.com allows you to see how your slides will look to colorblind viewers
- Edward Tufte's web page
12:00-1:00 Lunch and Optional Lunch-time Birds of a Feather Discussions (12:15-1:15) - Stern Dining Hall
Possible topics might include: Children and Careers, Non-Faculty Academic Positions, Being a Good Departmental Citizen, and Evaluation of Student Learning.
1:30-3:15 Designing Effective Classroom/Laboratory Activities - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Heather Macdonald and other workshop leaders
For this activity, you will work in small groups to develop a classroom or lab activity that addresses a key concept or skill in your discipline. This session will be an opportunity to share ideas with other participants as you consider different ways to teach that concept or skill.
View posters of the teaching activity ideas
- Daily Class Planning links to resources to help you develop your own classroom, lab, or field activities, or to find existing activities that meet your needs.
- How to Plan a Single Class Period provides guidance in planning a lesson, from setting learning goals for the day to assessing whether students have met those goals. This page includes specific geoscience examples and a worksheet you can use to plan a class period.
3:15-3:45 Break
3:45-5:00 Teaching Statements Concurrent Sessions: Articulating Your Teaching Goals and Highlighting Your Accomplishments
- Your Teaching Statement is a list of resources describing how to write your own personal teaching statement. At the top of the list is a worksheet to help you through the process.
- Introduction to Teaching Statements - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Robyn Wright DunbarThis session is designed to "jump start" the writing process for those who have yet to draft a teaching statement. Participants will articulate their teaching goals and accomplishments and begin the process of folding these into a concise teaching statement.
- Review of Teaching Statements - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Heather Macdonald and other workshop leadersParticipants who bring five copies of their teaching statements will work in small groups, each with a workshop leader, reviewing each other's statements and offering feedback. Leaders will also offer their comments.
5:00-5:20 Reflection time and Daily "Road Check" - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
6:00-7:00 Dinner - Stern Dining
7:30-8:30 Optional Evening Discussions:
- Early Career Time Management - Robyn Dunbar
- Writing Your First Research Grant - Rachel O'Brien
- Short reviews (10 minutes) of curriculum vitae and/or cover letter for job application - Oswaldo Garcia and Heather Macdonald
Saturday, July 31, 2010
7:00-8:00 Breakfast - Stern Dining Hall
Theme for the morning: Who are you as a researcher?
8:15-8:25 Overview of Day and Report on Daily Feedback - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
8:25-9:20 Presenting Yourself to Others (PowerPoint 850kB Jul27 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Heather Macdonald and Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe
In the job search process you will have very brief, yet critical, opportunities to convey your work to others. Participants in this session will refine a personal "Elevator Talk," a paragraph that describes the nature and significance of your research and is aimed at an audience of other geoscientists. You will then practice talking about your work to others.
9:20-9:40 Beating the impostor syndrome: Why we all feel like fakes, and why it does not matter (Acrobat (PDF) 470kB Jul31 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Margot Gerritsen
- Additional data (Acrobat (PDF) 587kB Jul26 10) from Margot
- Mindset: a book by psychologist Carol Dweck about research on achievement and success
9:40-10:00 Break
10:00-11:00 Moving Your Research Forward to New Settings: Breakout Sessions - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
- Two-year colleges (Acrobat (PDF) 123kB Jul21 10) - Katryn Wiese and Anne Egger
- Moving Your Research to a Two-Year College describes some of the challenges of doing research at a two-year college and strategies for tackling those challenges.
- Scholarly activity for two-year college faculty lists resources for new faculty at two-year colleges, including a perspective on what (besides research) constitutes scholarly activity.
- Primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) (PowerPoint 1.3MB Jul29 10) - Jeff Marshall and Rachel O'Brien
- Moving Your Research to a PUI has advice from past workshop leaders.
- Graduate institutions - Oswaldo Garcia, Margot Gerritsen, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Steve Semken
- Moving Your Research to New Settings addresses how to use your expertise in a new region, potential pitfalls, and funding and facilities.
11:10-12:10 Research Statements: Concurrent Sessions
- Your Research Interests and Plans lists resources for developing your research statement, including this page on Developing your Research Statement.
- Introduction to Research Statements (PowerPoint 203kB Jul26 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Heather MacdonaldThis session is designed to "jump start" the writing process for those who have yet to draft a research statement and will include discussion of key aspects of research statements intended for a particular type of institution (e.g., liberal arts college, research university).
- Review of Research Statements - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Room LLL
Robyn Wright Dunbar and other workshop leadersParticipants who submitted research statements in advance will review each other's research statements and will discuss key aspects of research statements intended for a particular type of institution (e.g., liberal arts college, research university).
12:10-1:00 Lunch and Optional Lunch-time Birds of a Feather Discussions (12:15-1:15) - Stern Dining Hall
Possible topics might include follow-up to the beating the impostor syndrome session, being an international scientist in the US, a question and answer (Q&A) potpourri, community college interviews, post-doc life, two-body "opportunity," getting a job overseas, and other topics suggested by participants or leaders
Theme for the afternoon: Choosing Where You Want to Go and Getting There
1:30-2:50 Mapping Your Career: Choices, Balance, and Action Planning - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Heather Macdonald and all workshop leaders
Given where you are in your career and what you have learned at this workshop, reflect on your long term goals or "dream job." What are your next steps? What advice would help you most at this point?
2:50-3:10 Break
3:10-4:30 The Academic Job Search: Applications, Interviews, Teaching Demonstrations, and Job Talks (PowerPoint 215kB Jul26 10) - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
Heather Macdonald and all workshop leaders
How to tailor your application for each advertised position, what to expect during your interview, and how to prepare an effective "job talk" (research presentation and/or teaching demonstration). Brief presentations will be followed by a question and answer period and some mock interview questioning.
- The Job Search is a collection of resources for people looking for jobs in academia. It includes information on beginning your search, assembling your application materials, interviewing, negotiating, and dealing with additional considerations (such as being part of a dual career couple).
- The job talk, (PowerPoint 30kB Aug2 06) from Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, summarizes a few key points about how to give an effective presentation during an on-campus interview.
4:30-5:00 Negotiating Before You Accept an Academic Position: Setting Yourself Up for Success - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
- Negotiating for What You Need to be Successful is a collection of resources about negotiating an academic contract -- what to negotiate for, and how to negotiate effectively (and pleasantly).
- 36 Negotiable Items in an Academic Position is an impressive list of things you might not think of when negotiating.
5:00-5:30 Reflection, Next Steps, and Workshop Evaluation - Arrillaga Alumni Center, Fisher Conference Center, Barnes Room
6:30 Reception followed by dinner at 7:00 - Branner Dining Hall. Dinner will be followed by an optional contra dance for those who are interested.
- Dave Mogk, a mineralogist and contra dance caller, has written a set of web pages on Teaching Symmetry Using Kinesthetic Learning -- An Exercise Using "Old-Time" Dances. In these web pages, Dave explains (with numerous video clips) how he uses traditional American contra and square dances to teach several concepts related to mineral symmetry.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
7:00-8:30 Breakfast - Stern Dining Hall
Optional Workshop Sessions - Mitchell Hall
8:30-9:30 Concurrent Workshops: Session 1
- Strategic Early Career Planning (PowerPoint 1.1MB Jul19 10) - Mitchell Building, Hartley Conference Center (first floor)
Rachel O'BrienThis session focuses on short term (three-five year) planning once you have landed an academic job. The emphasis is on how to effectively capture the "big picture" of your job responsibilities and to use this perspective to strategically plan and prioritize different facets of your work in the pre-tenure years.
- Early Career Planning Table (Microsoft Word 46kB Jul19 10)
- Job Preparation Planning Table (Microsoft Word 44kB Jul19 10)
- Semester on a Page (Microsoft Word 54kB Jul19 10)
- Charting Your Progress Toward Tenure
- Taking an Active, Strategic Approach to Tenure
- International Field Teaching and Research with Undergraduate Students (PowerPoint 18.5MB Jul19 10) - Mitchell Building, Room 352 (third floor)
Jeff MarshallThis session focuses on strategies for running and funding international courses and research projects at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI).
- Preparing a Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 144kB Jul19 10) - Mitchell Building, Room 370 (third floor)
Katryn WieseWe can eliminate stress for ourselves and our students by clearly detailing our expectations and course logistics in a syllabus on the first day of class. In this session, we will review different topics that one should address in a syllabus, both for the benefit of the instructor and the student. We will also discuss the many ways in which we can design a class and grading system that allows students to take control of their own class performance and feel happier and more engaged in the course.
- Creating the Course Syllabus from the Cutting Edge Course Design Tutorial
- Tips for An Effective Syllabus from the Penn State Learning Design Community
- Creating a Syllabus from Tools for Teaching, UC Berkeley
- Creating Your Syllabus from the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan
- Syllabus Checklist from the Teaching Center, Washington University, St. Louis
- Preparing the Course Syllabus from the Center for Support of Learning and Teaching, Syracuse University
9:30-9:45 Break
9:45-10:45 Concurrent Workshops: Session 2
- Place-Based Teaching and Learning (Acrobat (PDF) 1.7MB Jul23 10) - Room 352 (third floor)
Steve SemkenWe teach about Earth systems, processes, and history in real places that hold personal and cultural meanings and diverse kinds of relevance for our students. Their prior senses of place can either help or impede their learning. Participation in this session will explore the use of place as context and theme for relevant, inclusive, and trans-disciplinary place-based teaching; and the leverage of sense of place as motivation for learning.
- Taking Risks in Research (Acrobat (PDF) 86kB Aug2 10) - Going Outside Your Traditional and Comfortable Areas of Expertise and Thriving - Hartley Conference Center (first floor)
Margot Gerritsen
- Tapping into your Leadership Skills (PowerPoint 1.2MB Jul19 10) - Room 370 (third floor)
Francisca Oboh-IkuenobeThis session will explore leadership and communication skills that are important in your success in teaching, research and service, motivating students and colleagues to ensure goals are successfully completed, and utilizing your time effectively.
- Handout for Leadership Workshop (Acrobat (PDF) 720kB Jul19 10)
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00 Concurrent Workshops: Session 3
- Balancing Life and Work and Managing Time (Acrobat (PDF) 123kB Jul19 10) - Hartley Conference Center (first floor)
Katryn WieseThe first step in achieving a good balance in our lives is to clearly set our priorities. Next, we need to be realistic about how much we can do. In this session, we will rank our priorities and use them to help us make choices about what jobs, projects, and activities we want to pursue. We will also review and share strategies for managing time and juggling the tasks that we do choose.
- Developing Your Students as Writers - Room 370 (third floor)
Anne EggerWriting well is hard (and even harder to teach), but well-written papers can be incredibly powerful in both our teaching and our research. In this session, we'll talk about ways to design courses that develop your students as science writers, including giving and receiving constructive feedback.
- Resources for teaching writing handout (Acrobat (PDF) 80kB Jul21 10)
- Science Education: Working with K-12 Teachers (PowerPoint 4.3MB Aug3 10) - Room 352 (third floor)
Jeff MarshallThis session will focus on strategies for engaging in the teacher training efforts of your college/university.
If you attended any of today's optional sessions, please give us your feedback via the Sunday session evaluation form. Thanks!
