Wednesday Session
Poster Session Part of
Wednesday Session
Presenters will hang their posters by 8:30am (the hall will be open to presenters at 8:00am), and the Poster Hall will be open throughout the day.
Abstracts are listed below by theme and numbered poster locations are provided in this Poster Location Assignments PDF (Acrobat (PDF) 114kB Jul7 17) or can be displayed by clicking the blue 'Poster Location Assignments' text below.
Show Poster Location Assignments
HideBroadening Participation: Attracting students and supporting students and teachers
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Pathways into Geoscience (IUSE:GEOPATHS)
Brandon Jones, National Science Foundation
Lina Patino, NSF
Elizabeth Rom, National Science Foundation
Manda Adams, National Science Foundation
Preparation of the geoscience workforce includes increasing numbers as well as providing adequate education, exposure and training for undergraduates once they enter geoscience pathways. It is important to consider potential career trajectories for geoscience students, as these inform the types of education and skill-learning required. Recent reports have highlighted that critical thinking and problem-solving skills, spatial and temporal abilities, strong quantitative skills, and the ability to work in teams are among the priorities for many geoscience work environments. The increasing focus of geoscience work on societal issues opens the door to engaging a diverse population of students. In light of this, one challenge is to find effective strategies for "opening the world of possibilities" in the geosciences for these students and supporting them at the critical junctures where they might choose an alternative pathway to geosciences or otherwise leave altogether. To address these and related matters, The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) supports IUSE: GEOPATHS, to create and support innovative and inclusive projects to build the future geoscience workforce. This program is one component in NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, which is a comprehensive, Foundation-wide effort to accelerate the quality and effectiveness of the education of undergraduates in all of the STEM fields. The two tracks of IUSE: GEOPATHS (EXTRA and IMPACT) seek to broaden and strengthen connections and activities that will engage and retain undergraduate students in geoscience education and career pathways, and help prepare them for a variety of careers. The long-term goal of this program is to dramatically increase the number and diversity of students earning undergraduate degrees or enrolling in graduate programs in geoscience fields, as well as ensure that they have the necessary skills and competencies to succeed as next generation professionals in a variety of employment sectors.
Programs that Broaden Participation in the Geosciences in the El Paso Region
Annette Veilleux, University of Texas at El Paso
Tina Carrick, El Paso Community College
Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso
Laura Serpa, University of Texas at El Paso
The Geological Sciences Department at the University of Texas at El Paso has always aimed to broaden the participation of all grades levels (K – 12 to undergraduates) in the geosciences. Increased awareness may ultimately lead to better recruitment and retention within the geosciences. Whether through interactive outreach activities or outreach programs that follow the progression of students throughout their stages of education, the goals have remained consistent. This poster describes the programs/activities sponsored by the department that have been active over the last 10 – 15 years. Some programs are still active while others have ended. These programs have or had the benefit of broadening the participation in the geosciences. In a recent outreach program, for example, 5th and 8th grade students in the Tornillo ISD were given learning opportunities through the unique perspective of geology graduate students and visited the UTEP campus twice in the spring semester. The exposure to potential career paths for youth in Tornillo ISD will help prepare students who may have never considered college an option due to economic disadvantages. The benefit to the community will be to build UTEP connections to a school district that is located on the farthest eastern boundary of the El Paso region and encompasses an area where basic water, sewer and infrastructure is lacking (a colonia) where water issues are ever important. For next year, questionnaires have been prepared to assess the student's experience. At the present time results are qualitative in nature. By providing opportunities for students to participate in such programs, STEM initiatives and goals have been achieved and demonstrated in various programs. Exposing students, at all levels, to geosciences content, presenting future career opportunities within the geosciences, and participation in geoscience research has the benefit of broadening participation and strengthening UTEP community relations and connections.
Running Academic Year Pathways Research Experience Program (AY-PREP) to improve undergraduate student education for the Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso
Lixin Jin, University of Texas at El Paso
Tina Carrick, El Paso Community College
Aaron Velasco, University of Texas at El Paso
Lin Ma, University of Texas at El Paso
Recruiting, retaining, and preparing the next generation of diverse geoscientists requires exposing students to the wide-range of career opportunities and emerging geoscience topics and environmental issues through hands-on activities and research experiences. We build upon past, successful efforts plus leverage the University of Texas at El Paso's (UTEP's) unique demographic and research infrastructure to develop a comprehensive program that educates and prepare diverse geoscientists to earn advance degrees and/or enter the workforce: Academic Year Pathways Research Experience Program (AY-PREP). The program includes: 1) an academic year interdisciplinary research experience, 2) weekly seminars and workshops to expose students to cutting-edge research, graduate programs, and career opportunities, and prepare students for technical, professional, and soft skills; 3) a stratified mentoring program; and 4) the opportunity for the cohort to participate in the deployment of a seismic field experiment. Currently the program has 10 undergraduate participants: 8 female, 2 male; 9 Hispanic and 1 White. Pre- and post-semester surveys have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of this program and its impacts. Preliminary data suggest that students extremely enjoy being part of a cohort working in teams, and having the opportunity, as an undergraduate, to design a research project, collect data, test a hypothesis and present this work in different settings. The participants find the seminar topics to be important, beneficial, and enjoyable. Several students have had summer fieldwork made available through our partnership with Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and NSF-funded Critical Science Observatory Program. These experiences have significantly improved students in their attitudes towards scientific research, ability to collaborate and work as a team, and professional readiness.
Employing effective strategies to improve undergraduate education in Environmental Sciences through curriculum revision at a Hispanic Serving Institution
Lixin Jin, University of Texas at El Paso
Vanessa L Lougheed, University of Texas at El Paso
Elizabeth Walsh, University of Texas at El Paso
Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso
Lina Hamdan, University of Texas at El Paso
Maryam Zarei, University of Texas at El Paso
Guadalupe Corral, University of Texas at El Paso
The TIERA (Training in Environmental Research and Academic Success) program was created to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of Environmental Science majors at the University of Texas at El Paso. To improve student experiences and better prepare them for future STEM careers, effective educational strategies are utilized through revision of our four-year curriculum. Incoming freshmen are now required to co-enroll in Introductory Environmental Science (lecture and lab), and UNIV1301, to form a TIERA-learning community. The large size of the introductory classes makes individual interactions challenging, thus limiting our ability to identify potential recruits, and engage students in Environmental Sciences who might otherwise not enter the program. By integrating these freshman classes, we hope to increase recruitment and retention of majors. This learning community also helps students who are transferred from El Paso Community Colleges to adjust. Problem-based learning and research experiences are implemented in the sophomore year, focusing on training in project design, field methods, data collection and quality assurance. In addition, each student is required to register for research courses for two semesters in their sophomore year. Under the supervision of a faculty mentor, each student is immediately immersed into ongoing research. A Professional Development course is offered at the junior level to improve students' soft skills and prepare them for summer internships. The focus is placed on research skills and ethics, improvement of communication skills through service-learning and community outreach activities, development of leadership, responsibility, and teamwork skills, and exposing students to different career opportunities and help them with job applications and interviews. A capstone course, "Senior Project", is offered in the senior year where students develop and complete a project, supervised by an interdisciplinary team of UTEP faculty and professionals. Senior students are closely mentored, and they also mentor sophomore protégés, forming a stratified mentoring team.
Improving Geoscience Career Awareness for Urban Undergraduates
Stefany Sit, University of Illinois at Chicago
Ben Alsip, University of Illinois at Chicago
Danielle Petkunas, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jenny Bueno, University of Illinois at Chicago
Kathryn Nagy, University of Illinois at Chicago
As the demand for talented geoscientists continues to grow, there is a pressing need to attract talented young scientists from all ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds. Urban centers can potentially serve as a rich source of diverse students, however more efforts are needed to introduce and explain the variety of possible geoscience careers relevant to their communities and worldview. Through the InTeGrate Implementation Program, we focused on engaging students at the University of Illinois at Chicago with materials that highlighted career opportunities and featured departmental alumni. We assembled a team of undergraduate and graduate students to help advise and produce materials. First, we designed a geoscience career poster to help increase awareness of job opportunities, future workforce demand, and salary potential within our field. We partnered with our university's Office of Career Services who came into our classrooms to discuss career exploration and worked with faculty to develop a discipline specific resume writing assignment in which students were exposed to scholarship, internship, and job opportunities. We also connected with departmental alumni to feature their unique academic and career paths. By the end of our 1.5 year program, we created 10 alumni informational profiles, 4 YouTube interview videos, and hosted 6 alumni on campus. Our group of alumni included individuals from typically underrepresented groups, international backgrounds, those who started their degrees at 2-year colleges, and those who transitioned into the discipline later in their career. Finally, we developed a departmental website on our course management system, Blackboard, to disseminate our newly developed career materials and provide students with extra resources like sample resumes and interview advice. Faculty and students alike have responded well to these efforts and materials with a renewed sense of pride for the department and enthusiasm for the geosciences.
Examples of Tactile Aids for Teaching Introductory Geology Students with Visual Disabilities
Kent Ratajeski, University of Kentucky
Geology is a visually-stimulating science, and as such, presents significant challenges to students with visual disabilities. This problem is exacerbated by the explosion of visual material within introductory geoscience textbooks over the last few decades. Accessible textbooks usually do not attempt to describe this visual material in any detailed way. A variety of examples are presented illustrating the translation of complex diagrams, illustrations, visualizations, and maps into accessible products for a student with low vision enrolled in EES 220 ("Principles of Physical Geology") at the University of Kentucky during the Spring semester of 2017. The course uses Marshak's "Earth: Portrait of a Planet" as the suggested textbook, but many of the graphics and illustrations come from other sources. Examples included for demonstration purposes include: tactile aids for teaching methods of relative dating (different rock units are shown with different textures, and portions of the legend are magnetized so the units can be arranged on a metal strip); a lab exercise on stratigraphic correlation using textured stratigraphic columns, pushpins, and strings; small clay sculptures illustrating various types of volcanoes and rivers; a tactile graphic illustrating the concepts of fossil succession, index fossils, and fossil assemblages in relative dating; tactile diagrams illustrating Bowen's reaction series and the rock cycle; models illustrating silicate mineral structures; a graphing exercise on flood recurrence intervals making use of a raised line printer; and a lab exercise on topographic maps using a modified raised relief map of Yellowstone National Park. With the help of the University's Disability Resource Center and frequent feedback from the student, the design and implementation of the aids were improved during the course of the semester. Judging from preliminary observations and student feedback, most of the aids, particularly the larger ones, worked well to illustrate the relevant geologic concepts.
Weaving Together Native Cultural Knowledge and Western Science to Support Diverse Students' Learning about the Earth
Holly Godsey, University of Utah
Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
William Tsosie, Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department
Amanda Cangelosi, University of Utah
Bennie Begay, University of Utah
Candace Penrod, Salt Lake City School District
The University of Utah's Center for Science and Mathematics Education conducted a series of teacher workshops on Math and Earth Science from Navajo (Diné) and Western Perspectives in order to promote effective instructional practices for diverse students. The workshops are based on the premise that by developing an understanding of the cultural capital that indigenous and other culturally underrepresented students bring to the classroom, teachers can learn to relate science content in ways that are more relevant and inclusive. Underrepresented students often find that their cultural worldview and sense of place seem to conflict with mainstream science teaching, leading to confusion and disinterest in science. Connecting science concepts to cultural knowledge, and situating learning in local landscapes and environments enables students to construct new knowledge in the context of their own experiences and helps lessen any sense of discontinuity that arises from seemingly disparate ideas about Earth processes. For example, traditional Diné concepts of natural processes resulting from dynamic interactions between the systems of the Sky (Yádilhil) and the Earth (Nohosdzáán) are not dissimilar to Western concepts of Earth system science. The summer (2013, 2015 and 2016) workshops brought together geoscientists, Diné cultural experts, and in-service K-12 teachers from the region for field-based inquiry and mutual sharing of expertise. Field geological activities emphasized observational skills, Colorado Plateau geologic history, and applications of mathematics to phenomena. Each participating teacher selected a cultural, scientific, or pedagogical topic to research in advance and share with the group during the workshop. Highlights, activities and findings from each of the workshops will be shared in this presentation.
Developing Research Based Laboratories for Introductory Physical and Historical Geology
Jose Cervantes, University of Texas at El Paso
Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso
In 2014, a 5 year grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) was awarded to The University of Texas at El Paso to create research based labs in introductory courses in the College of Science. In the 2016-2017 academic year the Department of Geological Sciences added 1 section of research based physical and historical geology labs. Geological Science majors are strongly encouraged to participate in these labs, but any interested students are admitted to the labs. A marketing video was created for freshman orientation in order to promote the labs. In Fall 2016 a total of 14 people registered for the physical geology lab, where 60 % were geology related majors, 30% were in other STEM majors and 10% were non-STEM majors. A similar distribution of majors was observed in the Spring 2017 historical geology lab, with three students continuing from the fall lab. The first 6 weeks of both courses focused on developing geoscience skills such as reading maps and keeping field notebooks. Both courses had a shallow subsurface geophysical field research experience that focused on soil changes along the Rio Grande. We also used some units from the InTeGrate modules on "Exploring Geoscience Methods" and "Climate of Change". The students enjoyed the field experience and a laboratory based on soil analysis. In the first semester student attendance and completion of online, pre-lab assignments was poor. Students also had low computer skills and difficulty making predictions and drawing conclusions. We modified the lab based on those problems and have seen much improvement in performance.
Engaging and retaining students in the geosciences at two-year colleges (2YC) through undergraduate research
Kusali Gamage, Austin Community College
Hugh Daigle, The University of Texas at Austin
Chammi Miller, The University of Texas at Austin
Though research has been recognized as a high impact, inquiry-based practice to engage and retain undergraduate students, it is largely underutilized in the first two years of instruction. At two-year colleges in particular, students have even fewer opportunities to participate in authentic research projects. The Austin Community College (ACC) project includes the development and implementation of a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Course (SUREC) that engages students in research focused on scientific ocean drilling in their first two years of higher education. Through a partnership with the University of Texas at Austin, the SUREC program is open to students in their second year of study. ACC students will conduct research at a laboratory in the department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (UT PGE). The research experience will begin with guided scientific ocean drilling investigations supported by class explanation, group meetings and related scientific reading assignments. As students identify research topics, lab equipment and procedures, student teams will research more independently. Students will present their research at the UT PGE poster symposium and at the American Geophysical Union's virtual poster session. All students participating in the SUREC program will receive training and education in STEM, which will increase their interest in STEM fields, improve their self-identification as STEM students, and provide a solid foundation for further participation in geoscience careers or other STEM disciplines. By recruiting participants from the ACC student body, the project will also increase participation of students from underrepresented groups. Through collaboration with a four-year college and a focus on enhancing students' interest in science education in the first two years, this project has the potential to transform the way first-year courses are structured at ACC and other undergraduate institutions.
How are people from underrepresented groups represented in introductory Earth Science textbooks?
Karen Koy, Missouri Western State University
There is a low level of recruitment and participation of underrepresented groups, including women, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQA people in the Earth Sciences. That underrepresentation becomes more severe with each step up the academic hierarchy. Introductory classes, especially non-major courses, serve as recruiting grounds for Earth Science students. Do introductory Earth Science textbooks show people from underrepresented groups as successful, active scientists or students? Are they represented in accordance with the population at large? Images and figures of people in introductory Geology and Meteorology books were assessed based on ethnicity, gender, whether they were engaged in scientific activity or other active role. Images of active participants in earth sciences are overwhelmingly represented as white. Images of professionals in academia or industry are overwhelmingly male. Victims of disasters, such as earthquakes or floods, are dominantly shown to be people of color, with a mix of genders and ages. Overall, introductory Earth Science textbooks lack proper representation of people of color anywhere within Earth Science education or professions, and a lack of female Earth Science professionals. This may discourage students from underrepresented groups from entering into the Earth Sciences.
Do InTeGrate materials increase scientific understanding among women?
Tiffany Rivera, University of Missouri-Columbia
Laura Rademacher, University of the Pacific
Mark Abolins, Middle Tennessee State University
Christopher Berg, Orange Coast College
William Hansen, Worcester State University
David McConnell, North Carolina State University
Elizabeth Nagy, Pasadena City College
Daren Nelson, Utah Valley University
Mathieu Richaud, California State University-Fresno
InTeGrate geoscience teaching materials were developed to link societal challenges to geologic concepts in order to improve Earth literacy in undergraduate students. These curricular products span topics from mineral resources to climate change to natural hazards. InTeGrate modules take the form of engaged, student-centered learning opportunities, and can easily be implemented into flipped-style classrooms. The InTeGrate Research Team implemented three modules in a single geoscience course for the Fall 2016 semester, in eight different colleges and universities. Here, we evaluate the impact that these learning materials had on female students by analyzing pre- and post- course standardized test results (GLE – Geoscience Literacy Exam) and written responses to module and summative assessments. We supplement the learning metric data with surveys of attitudinal changes towards environmental concerns and the importance of sustainability on both student actions and career aspirations. We compare the results to a control group of students that did not receive any InTeGrate materials within their geoscience courses. Our results can be used to examine if women can increase their scientific (and geoscience) literacy due to pedagogical and curricular changes, along with shifting their perspectives regarding the need for sustainability in their lives. By identifying how these changes impact female students, we may be able to narrow the gender gap in STEM fields.
Assessment in Paradise: Using Data to Drive Undergraduate Geoscience Initiatives and Programmatic Changes
Michael Guidry, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Tiffany Tsang, University of Hawaii at Hilo
For many students in Hawai'i, higher education begins in the University of Hawaii's Community Colleges (UHCC) with these students eventually transferring to a four-year university after receiving an Associate's degree. The UH System is comprised of seven CCs and three four-year institutions on four separate islands and about a quarter of all enrolled students are Native Hawaiian. At the system's flagship campus, the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), the undergraduate environmental and geoscience programs [Atmospheric Sciences, Geology and Geophysics, and Global Environmental Science - (GES)] are within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). GES is the only UHM undergraduate major that has an undergraduate research thesis as a degree requirement, which adds to an already demanding curriculum (e.g., four semesters of calculus). By analyzing 2009 to 2016 GES programmatic data, it was determined that additional support is needed for the following: (1) retaining students in their first year of the GES program; (2) a geoscience pathway from the local UHCCs to UHM; (3) a process to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of geoscience majors in general and Native Hawaiians in particular; and (4) getting students into undergraduate research as quickly as possible. A five-year, multi-institutional NSF TCUP-PAGE grant was secured to aid addressing the aforementioned issues. We will present initial results from an ongoing multifaceted approach to institute the following: curricular changes; geoscience pathways from UHCCs to UHM; summer geoscience research program; an early-alert, student performance monitoring system and dashboard; and a new program to facilitate student placement in faculty-mentored research efforts. Through this work, we intend to continue to track student advancement through GES to ensure efficient and effective progress, consider UHM-wide adoption of the early-alert system, and monitor how quickly students engage in research upon arrival at UHM.
Developing Leaders in STEM: Community College STEM Honors Program
Barbra Sobhani, University of Colorado at Boulder
In an effort to further develop our college's STEM opportunities and support diverse student populations in STEM, Red Rocks Community College committed to developing a comprehensive STEM Honors Program. The mission of the Honors program is to provide exceptional learning opportunities through interdisciplinary education and problem-solving experiences for a community of scholars in order to prepare them to be leaders in a global community. The Honors program will also help them prepare for transfer and career opportunities. Program learning outcomes include intellectual inquiry and research skill, interdisciplinary problem solving, leadership, civic and global learning. Each student cohort will have a STEM theme that integrates the classes, field trips and capstone projects. The first cohort will be working on the wicked problem of the future of water. Students will also be involved with advanced projects, internships, service learning and travel opportunities through the Honors Program, providing an exceptional experience and competitive edge in careers and transfer. We have involved our four year partners in the development of the program in order to facilitate honor to honors transfer for our Honors Scholar graduates. It is recognized that helping high-achieving and/ or high-potential community college students find a more rigorous transfer destination can help increase graduation rates. Since this is a two year program, leading to transfer, the number of additional credits that the students can take is limited. Therefore, required coursework in the program is composed primarily of Honors option sections of guaranteed transfer courses. The theme is also woven through the seminar and colloquium cohort classes, which comprise five credits of the Honors total. Honors faculty from across disciplines are immersed in the wicked problem and brainstorm ways to incorporate the theme into their courses. The Honors student/faculty cohort will promote identity as a scholar and specialized advising and mentoring.
Engaging an entire STEM division in professional development: supporting students through the whole curriculum
Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft, Whatcom Community College
Ed Harri, Whatcom Community College
Change at the core (C-Core), an NSF-funded program provides professional development for 60 STEM faculty across 3 interlinked institutions focusing on student-centered learning in geology, biology, chemistry, physics, math, engineering, and computer science. A primary goal of C-Core is to increase participation by underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. C-Core is a partnership between Western Washington University and regional 2YC partners (Whatcom & Skagit). The C-Core model is based on the premise that a critical mass of reformed instructors leads to departmental adoption of student-centered, inclusive learning. While C-Core involved primarily full-time STEM faculty, WCC identified a need to support adjunct faculty in these curricular reforms since they teach almost 50% of our courses. As a result, 30 STEM division full-time and adjunct faculty spent 2 ½ days engaged in learning how to reform their courses. Using a retreat, we were able to incorporate informal interactions that helped to build a community within the division. This program was coordinated, supported, and facilitated by the Integrate Traveling Workshop Program. By bringing in those who had been participating in the C-core program with those who had not, we were able to start normalizing the language and create a culture of reform within the division. This is critical to support STEM students across an entire program, particularly with geoscience students who take most of their pre-requisites outside of the geoscience curriculum prior to transfer. Ongoing conversations through professional learning communities across math and science faculty continue this year examining how to support students through language translation across classes, how we use graphs, calculators, technology, and also supporting teaching and learning efforts. The challenges of time still exist, but the desire to make time has allowed for greater efforts to support these important conversations as we move forward in supporting students.
Access and inclusion from the perspective of current departmental practice
Ivan Carabajal, University of Cincinnati-Main Campus
Christopher Atchison, University of Cincinnati-Main Campus
Many traditionally-designed geoscience courses and field-experiences are unintentionally presenting barriers to active participation for students with disabilities (SWD). As such, these barriers are potentially contributing to the under-representation of persons with disabilities in the geoscience discipline. Although geoscience organizations are calling for more inclusive approaches to geoscience education, departments have been left to independently develop inclusive curricula with little insight or pedagogical training. In order to encourage geoscience departments to implement inclusive instruction, we must first understand current practices on promoting accessible field experiences. This presentation reports on the findings of a recent study on the conceptions geoscience instructors, and U.S. geology departments, have regarding field-based accessibility. This study collected survey data from 160 two-year and four-year geology departments and follow-up interview data from three geoscience instructors from different institutions. Data collected included information on departmental practices when attempting to provide adequate field experiences for SWD, department confidence in assessing field site accessibility, and the culture of access and inclusion in their own geoscience department. Reported practices were thematically analyzed according to: (1) modifications, (2) accommodations, (3) adaptations, and (4) accessible options. Key factors emerging from this study suggest that instructors and field assistants would benefit from additional safety, inclusion, and accessibility-assessment training. This study promotes inclusive field-based instruction through critical insights on current departmental practices.
Characteristics and motivations of majors in a geosciences program with a large proportion of transfer students
Joel Moore, Towson University
Ronald Hermann, Towson University
Rommel Miranda, Towson University
Kyle Hurley, Towson University
The US demand for STEM graduates is high, and job growth for geoscience graduates is projected to be ~50% higher than overall job growth. Through the NSF-funded grant entitled TU GEO Careers (Towson University Geoscience Educational Opportunities for Careers), the Geosciences faculty at Towson University (TU), a large comprehensive institution, are seeking to help meet the demand for geoscience graduates while conducting research on motivators for students to become geoscience majors and on the effectiveness of recruiting and retention techniques. The TU Geosciences program has four tenure-line faculty and two full-time lecturers and offers 2 degrees: Geology and Earth-Space Science (for secondary education). It also strongly supports the Environmental Science and Studies program, particularly the Geology track of that major. TU Geosciences is part of a multi-disciplinary department along with Physics, Astronomy, and Science Education. Two-thirds of current majors and of recent Geology graduates transferred to TU, mostly from two-year colleges (2YCs) in Maryland. One major emphasis of TU GEO Careers is to broaden and improve transfer pathways through development of articulation agreements and building connections with 2YC faculty. Initial efforts to build these connections have been successful with one of the co-authors joining a newly formed advisory board at a 2YC for Undergraduate STEM Research. Initial results from survey data indicate that personal interest, cost of attendance, and media/books were the most important motivating factors for becoming a geosciences major at TU. Continuing majors identified course content, interaction with other students, and faculty support and advising as important to continuing their degree progress while the most commonly identified stumbling block was course availability. Ongoing work includes exploration, where possible, of similarities and differences between 'native' students and transfer students. We also are collecting qualitative data on student motivation and retention via interviews with current and recently graduated students.
Care and Feeding of Transfer Students: a First-Semester Seminar Helps Students Thrive
C. Suzanne Rosser, Texas A & M University
David Sparks, Texas A & M University
Julie Newman, Texas A & M University
Transfer students from community colleges make up a large and increasingly important share of undergraduate geology majors. These students are regarded as upperclass students by themselves and the university, but their development stage is similar to first year students (unfamiliarity with university procedure, larger class sizes, more rigorous demands). Further, these students are more isolated than first years because they are taking courses out of sequence, and not in a cohort. First-semester difficulties can have long-term negative affects, or even cut short students' academic careers. In Fall 2013, we instituted a mandatory seminar for transfer students in their first semester. The goals are to initiate relationships among students in the cohort and with faculty and staff, develop academic success skills, and learn how to prepare for and pursue a career. Each week's early evening meeting starts with a family-style dinner, during which the academic advisor inquires about their week, encourages sharing of issues or questions, and discusses upcoming events. Then the advisor, a professor, or a representative from campus resources leads a discussion or gives a presentation. Topics include academic honesty, time management, academic coaching, career paths, grad school preparation, research opportunities in the department, and employer expectations. Outside of class, students write a short reflection about that week's discussion, or undertake an activity (e.g., visit the Writing Center, create a study schedule). Mean retention rate and GPA among transfer students have increased 5-15% since the initiation of the seminar, in addition to a 45% increase in the percentage of transfer students involved in undergraduate research. Two modifications to the original seminar design did not work as well: combining new transfer students with an incoming freshmen seminar, and holding the seminar during mid-day. We believe both of these changes made the seminar feel too much like just another course.
Establishing a Sequence of Three CURE Courses in Biogeochemistry
Jonathan Schmitkons, Binghamton University
Joseph Graney, Binghamton University
Nancy E. Stamp, Binghamton University
Megan Fegley, SUNY at Binghamton
Binghamton University's Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) Program aims to improve student persistence in STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) majors by augmenting their academic studies with the immediate opportunity to conduct authentic research. In the fall of 2016, a biogeochemistry research stream was established during the third year of Binghamton University's Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) Program. Modeled after the program's existing streams in Neuroscience, Image & Acoustic Signals, Biofilms, Biomedical Chemistry, and Smart Energy; this stream is a sequence of three course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for incoming freshmen students. The sequence of courses consists of: 1) a research methods seminar, 2) training in stream-specific analytical techniques and the writing of a novel research project proposal, and 3) completion and presentation of their proposed research. Initial projects range from the potential effects of antibiotics on the nitrogen cycle to the formation of both ancient stromatolites and their modern analogues. A unique component of this biogeochemistry stream was the incorporation of field-based studies into the FRI model of laboratory based research. In order to help facilitate this field-based component, a select number of biogeochemistry students are presently engaged in a summer-long research intensive experience with goals of collecting pertinent data to help incorporate seasonal variability into several of their research projects.
GeoConnections
Darryl Reano, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Jon Harbor, Purdue University-Main Campus
GeoConnections is a recent NSF-funded project that is focused on creating geoscience education modules (GEMs) that are place-based and culturally relevant for Native American undergraduate students. The development and implementation of these modules has been and will continue to be guided by a unique Indigenous research framework (IRF) set forth through the use of Sociotransformative Constructivism and Tribal Critical Race Theory. The initial construction phase of the education activities in the module have been developed and tested in a pilot study at Acoma Pueblo, NM. The IRF approach used for the pilot project disrupts the status quo by truly sharing positions of power within an active learning environment. This includes acknowledging traditional, cultural knowledge of Acoma Pueblo elders and other Acoma Pueblo community members, creating a safe dialogic space for participants to interact, respecting Acoma Pueblo cultural values and history, and the delicate weaving of Western geoscience concepts into these more familiar funds of knowledge. Preliminary qualitative analysis of the focus group interview highlights how Acoma Pueblo elders utilized the IRF to heighten place attachment and positively affect place meaning for other participants during the concluding discussion of the geoscience program. GeoConnections will continue implementation of these modules with undergraduate students at Heritage University in Toppenish, WA. Those students will focus on three main topics for the modules: The geologic history of the Columbia River Basalts, the geologic impacts of the Glacial Lake Missoula Floods, and the hydrogeologic system of the Yakima River Basin. The curriculum for these modules was constructed using a backward design approach in which focused questions are used to align the activities and assessments of the module in a way that develops understanding of key geologic concepts while also offering opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding in multimodal learning environments.
Course Resources
Geo-Ventures El Paso: A Gateway for Engagement, Recruitment, & Instruction
Rob Rohrbaugh, El Paso Community College
Fusing Introductory Field Geology with Recreational Activities as a Gateway Tool for Geoscience Recruitment, Supplemental Instruction, and Enhanced Student/Community Engagement Geo-Ventures El Paso is a bi-institutional, multi-campus program, serving El Paso Community College (EPCC) and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), that exposes 2YC/4YC introductory level students and the community to local and regional geologic settings during select outdoor recreational activities (i.e. hiking, caving, mountain biking, and climbing). Field geology exposure is often limited to upper level students already committed to the Geoscience pathway, therefore excluding non-majors and introductory level students that are a diverse population of potential Geoscience candidates. The fusion of outdoor recreation and introductory field geology creates a gateway attraction for students and the community alike to step through the gate of Geoscience, that would otherwise be avoided with the typical advanced geology focused field tour. The 4-year old program has expanded EPCC's recruitment of Geoscience majors, provides supplemental field instruction across 6 campuses (5 at EPCC, UTEP), and has enhanced student and community engagement by correlating relevant geologic factors to academic, career, civil, and environmental facets. Essentially the program serves as a Geology "highlight" reel to initiate interest and facilitate enhanced learning and engagement. Founder and coordinator, Rob Rohrbaugh of EPCC (UTEP alumni), will share key program aspects with multi-media and discussion; including promotional tools (social media, posts, etc.), participation data/demographics, event descriptions, common logistics, instructional facets, risks vs. gains, and grant integration.
Linked Assignments Based on Geologic Map Interpretations for Synthesizing Content Across Multiple Geology Courses and Meeting Workforce Needs
PRAJUKTI Bhattacharyya, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Jacobs, Peter, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Hanger, Rex, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Geologic maps visually represent a comprehensive geological history of a region, including, but not limited to the stratigraphy, fossil record, deformation history, and available minerals and other resources. As such, they provide a unique opportunity for developing a series of linked classroom activities and formative assignments that can meet the learning objectives of a variety of geology courses. Ultimately this series of linked assignments can be combined into one comprehensive summative assignment in the form of a geologic map report that graduating seniors can include in their portfolios. Such a series of linked assignments can promote synthesis and application of content knowledge across different courses within the major, and help assess students in different courses at various points of the novice-expert continuum. Moreover, since geologic maps are widely used by professional geoscientists, training students in geologic map interpretation skills in context of different courses is important for workforce development. A series of geologic map-based assignments and activities that can be used to link content materials covered in different lower- and upper-level geoscience courses can potentially train students in those skills throughout their undergraduate experience. At UW-Whitewater we designed and piloted such a series of linked assignments and activities based on the geologic map of Glenn Creek Quadrangle, Montana (USGS GQ 499, M.R. Mudge, 1966). The broad range of structural, lithostratigraphic, and biostratigraphic features shown in this map makes it suitable for meeting the learning objectives of several of our geology courses. Preliminary results show that students who have taken more geology courses are able to produce better quality final reports than less advanced students. This presentation describes our project and preliminary observations, and discusses the effectiveness of such an approach for developing geoscience courses and curriculum for meeting future workforce needs.
High-Adventure Science: Making and Defending Scientific Claims in the Face of Uncertainty
Amy Pallant, The Concord Consortium
The poster will describe results from the NSF-funded High-Adventure Science: Earth's Systems and Sustainability project. The project developed five online curriculum modules that promote understanding of how human actions affect the mechanics of some of Earth's systems. The five modules each focus on a single topic: climate change, fresh water availability, air pollution, land management, and energy choices. The curricula include interactive computational models and real-world data. Computational models are used as a way to help students more deeply explore complex Earth systems and the human impact on those systems. The real-world data present an opportunity to engage students' scientific analysis and reasoning skills on a topic of current interest in Earth Science. We created and validated an assessment framework that measures students' formulation of uncertainty-infused scientific arguments with real-world data and modeling. Since students are not naturally inclined to consider uncertainties in their scientific arguments, we developed a four-part scientific argumentation prompt that includes: (1) a multiple-choice claim, (2) an open-ended justification to support the claim, (3) a five-point Likert scale uncertainty rating, and (4) an open-ended explanation of the reasons for their uncertainty rating. We used these prompts in pre-post assessments of students' scientific argumentation abilities as well as embedded in curricular activities. Analyses show statistically significant improvement of scientific argumentation abilities across all five curriculum modules, as well as further gains when multiple modules are used.
Addressing student readiness for data-intensive science — takeaways from other disciplines' efforts and prospects for the earth sciences
The current research landscape has seen an undeniable increase in data-intensive science, consistent with the impact of "big data" in every corner of our society. Within this arena, high volume, heterogeneous, and increasingly real-time data has forced seasoned scientists and engineers alike to adapt intelligent systems techniques into their data life cycle analysis. For educators, administrators and employers, the pervasiveness of datasets across disciplines has unraveled a new set of challenges in an age of shrinking degree plans and rising tuition costs: how can we best teach computational skills to non-computer science students, and how can we accelerate and facilitate the teaching and learning process? These are especially relevant topics within the geoscience community, which has lagged behind other science communities in adopting emerging technologies for big data; more so given the reliability and maturity of multi-sensor and multi-instrumentation networks across the globe. In this research, we seek to summarize the current state of efforts within the earth science community addressing this need, and synthesize findings from other communities regarding data science competencies and approaches to reducing this knowledge gap for students. Incorporating these skills into curricula for our students will ultimately enhance their competitiveness in the workforce.
Flipping a Junior Level Sedimentology Course, Unexpected Benefits
Richard Langford, University of Texas at El Paso
Recently the sedimentology and stratigraphy course at UTEP was flipped, with lectures recorded and and put online. Class time was devoted to answering questions and introducing and working on laboratory and homework assignments. A final field project in last part of class was expanded to create a more project based course. The exercise is so far receiving positive feedback from students, but not for the reasons that I originally expected. The online lectures are frankly boring. They were kept short and topical, usually less than 8 minutes and the longest at 16 minutes. This is in keeping with the in-class lecture style prior to flipping. However, the students love the ability to replay lecture sections to give them time to understand the material. This in turn meant many fewer questions were brought up during class, which allowed additional time to be spent on problem solving and projects. One key lesson has been to require that students refer to the book during most of the lectures, to stimulate reading and promote retention. Flipping doesn'tt have to occur at once, and can be phased in over several courses. It is recommended for a science courses at all levels.
Geoscience Videos and their Role in Supporting Student Learning
Jennifer Wiggen, North Carolina State University
David McConnell, North Carolina State University
A series of geoscience videos were created to support student learning in Introductory Physical Geology classes at North Carolina State University. Videos are typically 5-7 minutes long and made using a stylus, tablet, microphone and video editing software. Essentially, we narrate a slide, sketch a diagram or explain a figure while describing the concept illustrated by what is projected onto the tablet. A typical video lesson would contain specific parts that can be matched against a similar textbook assignment to allow for comparison of student performance in different learning environments. In the context of this study, students were given a video or text-based resource followed by a multiple choice assessments featuring knowledge and comprehension questions. Overall, our results show that the incorporation of short video-based resources improves student performance and confidence on related assessment questions compared to paper-based resources (text and static images).
Opengeology.org: the first college-level and comprehensive open educational resource (OER) for introductory geology classes in the US
Christopher Johnson, Salt Lake Community College
Matthew Affolter, Salt Lake Community College/Cottonwood HS
Cameron Mosher, Salt Lake Community College
Paul Inkenbrandt, Salt Lake Community College
An open educational resource (OER) is a freely accessible resource such as a book with a creative commons copyright license. OER improves access to education by reducing costs. This may increase enrollment of cost-conscious students in introductory courses. Many science disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and physics already have several OER introductory textbooks available on Openstax.com, a leader in OER textbooks funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. To address the absence of an OER geology text, faculty at Salt Lake Community College have written the first college-level OER textbook for introductory geology courses in the United States. The text is online at Opengeology.org/Intro, has interactive quizzes, videos and animations, and cited sources. The site is fully accessible with alternative text for figures and captioned videos, and is mobile compatible. The text was written collaboratively by four primary authors using shared Google Drive docs in "Suggestion Mode". Google Docs were electronically "shared" with fifteen external reviewers and three internal reviewers including university faculty, state geological survey staff, and professional geologists from industry. Reviewing a shared document in "Suggestion Mode" allowed for quick editing and easy collaboration. All figures are open access and the text is copyrighted under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License in which users are free to share and adapt for any purpose with credit given to authors. Financial support for the project came from college administration.
Mixed-methods research on student geoscience learning at Grand Canyon by complementary in-situ and virtual modalities
Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Thomas Ruberto, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Chris Mead, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Geoffrey Bruce, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Sanlyn Buxner, The University of Arizona
Ariel Anbar, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Not all students enjoy equal access to field-based geoscience learning, even as ever more immersive, rich, and student-centered virtual field experiences become more widely available. No virtual modalities yet conceived can supplant field-based learning, but logistical and financial contraints can render them the only practical option for enabling most students to explore exemplary but inaccessible places located across—and even beyond—Earth. Our team is a leading producer of immersive virtual field trips (iVFTs) and we are engaged in concurrent research on the effectiveness of iVFTs. Given that virtual and in-situ modalities have distinct advantages and disadvantages, our research methods are more complementary than comparative. We conducted mixed-methods studies in an intro historical-geology class (n = 120) populated mostly by non-majors and an advanced regional geology class (n = 48) that serves mostly majors. Both represent the diversity of our large urban Southwestern research university. For the same credit, students chose either an in-person field trip (ipFT) to Grand Canyon National Park (control group) or an online Grand Canyon iVFT (experimental group) to be done in the same time interval. We collected quantitative and qualitative data from both groups before, during, and after both interventions. Learning outcomes based on elements of the Trail of Time at Grand Canyon were assessed using pre/post concept sketching and inquiry exercises. Student attitudes and novelty-space factors were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the PANAS instrument of Watson and Clark and with questionnaires for each modality. Analysis of pre/post concept sketches indicated improved visualization and conceptual knowledge in both groups, but more so in the iVFT group. Emergent themes from the pre/post questionnaires and PANAS yielded testable ideas to enhance iVFT usability and ipFT accessibility and support the value of iVFTs as pedagogically sound tailored geoscience learning experiences.
Using online visualisation tools to reduce spatial thinking barriers in an introductory field methods course
Jenny Riker, University of Bristol
Almost every course we teach in earth sciences requires spatial thinking; this is particularly true of field-based courses. Spatial skills can be especially challenging to teach at an introductory level, as pre-university educational training tends to emphasise quantitative and verbal skill sets. This presentation discusses our experiences using the Visible Geology app (Cockett et al. 2016) to reduce barriers to spatial thinking in an introductory field methods course in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. Visible Geology is a free, interactive online tool for visualising 3D block diagrams; it allows users to build strata and structures and to view the interaction of built geology with topography in both map view and in rotatable 3D. We have recently introduced use of this app into our first year module "Geologic Maps and Structures" with the aim of enhancing students' ability to infer three-dimensional structures from geologic maps. Examples of concepts introduced or reinforced using the app include the relationship between dip and younging direction; the map expressions of unconformities; the outcrop patterns of folds; and the difference between fault separation and true slip. We have used the app in both instructor-led (e.g., classroom demonstrations) and student-led contexts (e.g., in-class think-pair-share activities; self-guided pre-class exercises preceding lectures on associated content). Classroom observations and student feedback suggest that students find the visualisation tool helpful and enjoyable to use, and comparison of exam results with previous cohorts (who have not used the app) will provide a basis for more robust evaluation of students' 3D thinking skills. These results are necessarily qualitative, however. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss approaches that link visualisation tools and quantitative improvements in students' spatial thinking ability. I will also discuss our preliminary attempts to use Visible Geology to enhance 3D visualisation skills in a field setting.
Current and Future Evolution of the AGI/NAGT Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology
Vince Cronin, Baylor University
The 11th edition of the AGI/NAGT Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology (LMPG) is now in print. Sales of the LMPG help support the work of NAGT and AGI. Superior graphics have always been a hallmark of the LMPG since its first edition in 1986. Dennis Tasa has supplied excellent artwork for every edition, with almost 200 new photos and about 180 new or revised graphics in the new edition. Dennis and I revised illustrations that have been difficult for people with color blindness to work with. We want the LMPG to be more accessible to all, including students with physical challenges or disabilities. The LMPG is a product of the broader geoscience-education community, so I invite the geoscience community to contribute toward the positive evolution of this resource. We need to understand how you use (or would use) the LMPG in your introductory lab course. What lab topics should we add to the current list? Do you feel that any are obsolete? Which of the 96 lab activities are effective and which are not? What is your opinion about the length and scope of the introductory text in each chapter? Many aspects of educational publishing are now digital, allowing access to expanded online content, potentially lowering cost, enhancing sustainability, and perhaps generating data useful to geoscience education researchers. What opportunities, challenges, and impediments do you foresee if we move part of the LMPG into an online resource? Whom might we unintentionally leave behind if we move ahead with this transformation? Please send your comments, ideas, and experiences related to the LMPG to Vince_LM_Editor@CroninProjects.org. Teachers can now customize the LMPG, choosing which chapters to include. You can see an advance copy and request a review copy of the new LMPG at the Earth Educators' Rendezvous.
Augmented Reality Sandboxes: Determining Efficacy as a Pedagogical Tool in Intro Geology Courses
matt smith, University of Kansas Main Campus
Alison Olcott Marshall, University of Kansas Main Campus
Though the majority of students who take formal geology courses in a post-secondary setting are not intending to pursue geology as a career, these students are expected to use spatial visualization skills in order to successfully learn, if not master, certain geological skills and concepts. Though spatial ability and three dimensional thinking are involved in other subject areas (such as biology, art, and geography), there are certain spatial abilities needed to understand three dimensional geologic structures and their interaction with three dimensional topographic surfaces which are specific to the geosciences. There are measurable differences in spatialization abilities among people, and not everyone possesses spatial ability skills that are helpful in understanding certain geologic concepts. Engaging students with geologic content in a classroom in an active learning environment and utilizing augmented and virtual reality to assist natural spatial ability may allow students to more quickly grasp certain geologic concepts without the need for taking time to train spatial ability in already limited time periods, especially with students that do not have opportunity to regularly utilize spatial ability and skills in other subjects. Augmented and virtual reality are tools which can be used to supplement an individual's ability to visualize in three dimensions, showing an individual what they may be unable to or have trouble visualizing. One such tool that could be utilized in an introductory geoscience classroom is the augmented reality sandbox (sandbox), as developed by Oliver Kreylos. Though these sandboxes have existed and seen use in classrooms and as educational displays for several years, there has not been much quantitative assessment of their efficacy as a pedagogical tool. Here, I present my plan and initial work in developing ways of assessing student learning and usefulness of the sandbox as a teaching tool in introductory geology courses.
Sustainability Ethics in the Geoscience Classroom: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach
Ellen Metzger, San Jose State University
Randall Curren, University of Rochester
Because challenges to sustainability arise at the intersection of intertwined and evolving biophysical and sociopolitical systems, addressing complex and solution-resistant ("wicked") problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and management of shared and contested natural resources requires not only a scientific understanding of planetary systems, but also consideration of the human values, norms, and institutions that undermine sustainable ways of living. Geoscience educators who wish to integrate the topic of sustainability into their courses will naturally begin from their expert understanding of Earth systems, but may feel ill-equipped to teach the ethical, social, and political aspects of sustainability. A widespread lack of clarity about the fundamental nature of sustainability and its normative dimensions adds to the challenge. In this presentation we will draw on our respective disciplines of geology and philosophy to 1) outline a way to conceptualize sustainability that synthesizes scientific and ethical perspectives and draws on an approach developed for our book Living Well Now and in the Future: Why Sustainability Matters and 2) articulate four fundamental principles of sustainability ethics that follow from our analysis and core commitments of common morality. Violations of these principles will be illustrated with historical and contemporary examples including the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, hydro fracking, and the Flint water crisis. To help geoscience educators translate the outlined concepts and principles to classroom practice, we will also supply an overview of teaching resources and strategies, including the Teaching GeoEthics Across the Geosciences Curriculum" web site (http://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/index.html, links to relevant case studies, and sample activities for engaging students in scientific and ethical inquiry around sustainability issues.
Disciplinary-Based Education Research: Some Observations on the Promise, Products and Pitfalls
James Brey, American Meteorological Society
Today's funding environments demand meaningful assessment and evaluation as a minimum for any proposal to promote earth science teaching and learning. Within the past decade this requirement has evolved to require actual discipline-based educational research that requires substantively more planning, time and resources and can divert funds from the proposed project itself. This presentation will explore this trend using examples from the author's experience with funded projects and provide suggestions for principle investigators to consider when fashioning their plans or how the project will be evaluated and assessed so that this activity can pass muster as authentic educational research that can benefit the wider community. It will hopefully be an enlightening look into the promise, products and pitfalls of trying to prove that what you are trying to do works!
Understanding ocean circulation using open-ended experiments in an introductory class
Brendan Hanger, Colorado School of Mines
Penny King, Australian National University
Stephen Eggins, Australian National University
Ross Griffiths, Australian National University
Density-driven flow is a major driver of ocean circulation that we introduce to Earth Systems Science students using quantitative tank experiments. Recently, we added an open-ended activity to the lab – challenging students to develop and run experiments of their own design. We use custom-made acrylic tanks that contain a removable barrier which isolates part of the tank. For quantitative experiments the tanks are filled with fresh water and the barrier is used to isolate a small portion. A known amount of salt and dye is added to this volume, creating a more saline, denser water mass. Students, working in teams of 4-5, remove the barrier between the water volumes, observing and timing the progress of the dense salty water as it flows along the base of the tank, to determine the flow velocity. After performing multiple experiments with increasing density, students calculate a constant that allows for the determination of flow velocity as a function of water height and the density contrast between water masses. Students are then invited to design and conduct an experiment to replicate an ocean process of their choice, based on what they have learned in preceding lectures/workshops. They are provided with materials including salt, ice, warm water, additional barriers, obstacles and fans. This leads to a vibrant engaged class as students attempt to replicate processes such as convergence of currents, ocean stratification, geostrophic flow, the effects of bathymetry and the complex water flow off Antarctica. These experiments provide practice in data recording, writing scientific reports, defining and testing hypotheses, and fitting equations using a spreadsheet. Many students record their experiments as videos or photos, some of which are high-quality demonstrations of science communication and advertisement for the course. Overall, the activity teaches students the link between observations, theory and experimental modelling of oceanographic processes.
Comparing Textbook Chapters and Adaptive Learning Lessons: Assessing Student Learning Motivation in the Earth Sciences
E. Christa Farmer, Hofstra University
Adam Halpern, Hofstra University
Amy Catalano, Hofstra University
Do differences exist in how students feel about their learning experiences using an adaptive learning platform versus a traditional textbook? There is a gap in the literature comparing learning motivation between tools, despite expectations in the publishing industry that interactive adaptive online learning platforms will dominate learning in the future. We plan to assess students' learning motivation before and after completing assignments in an "Environmental Geology" course using both tools. All (N= 24) students in a Fall 2017 GEOL005 course will be given a survey at the beginning of the course to assess their motivation to learn environmental geology. This survey will ask questions about content knowledge, based on the Geoscience Concept Inventory (Libarkin and Anderson 2005) and learning outcomes for sustainability education (Svanstrom et al. 2008). The survey will also determine how much prior experience students have with adaptive learning. During the semester, all students in the course will be assigned several homework assignments, including reading several traditional textbook chapters, in an electronic format, and completing several lessons on the adaptive learning platform, Smart Sparrow (www.smartsparrow.com). A second survey will be given at the end of the semester, which will re-assess content knowledge, and ask students several questions to gauge their learning motivation (as defined by Tseng and Walsh, 2016) for the various topics covered by the two modalities (textbook chapters as compared to Smart Sparrow lessons). These questions will assess students' level of motivation for each assignment: their attention to each assignment, their assessment of the relevance of each assignment, their identification of changes in their confidence after each assignment, and their degree of satisfaction with each modality. Comparisons of initial survey results with those from surveys after assignments are completed will help answer the question: do adaptive learning software platforms increase student motivation for learning?
Utilizing sUAS (drones) to enhance geology field camp
Gregory Baker, Colorado Mesa University
The use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS)—known to the general population as "drones"—in Earth Science is an obvious extension of remote sensing and geophysics. Geology field courses, or field camp, are typical capstone courses for undergraduate geology degrees (or often required "deficiencies" for graduate students) and thus should be constantly evaluated and improved upon where opportunities exist. Many successful examples exist of incorporating state-of-the-art remote sensing and geophysical techniques & data into geology field camps to provide valuable workforce skills as well as to enhance general understanding of complexities of geology in two- and three-dimensional space. Therefore, with the increasing advances in sUAS tools (both hardware & software) over the past several years, an obvious path is to evaluate potential improvements in field camp learning outcomes by incorporating sUAS techniques & data into field camp curricula. Examples of various sUAS field camp applications will be given with associated changes in learning outcomes.
The Role of an NSF Facility in supporting Education: Geodesy for Everyone through UNAVCO's Education & Community Engagement Program
Donna Charlevoix, EarthScope Consortium
Beth Bartel, UNAVCO
Aisha Morris, National Science Foundation
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope Consortium
Kelsey Russo-Nixon, EarthScope
UNAVCO manages the NSF geodetic facility (GAGE: Geodesy Advancing Geosciences and EarthScope) which includes a focused program devoted to education, outreach, communications and geo-workforce development. The UNAVCO Education and Community Engagement (ECE) program supports the geophysics and broad geoscience community in collaboration with community members, partner organizations and universities as well as individual principal investigators. This presentation will provide an overview of support services available to the geosciences community with a focus on instructional materials (formal and informal) as well as an overview of the student opportunities available at UNAVCO.
Teacher Preparation and Curriculum Design for K-12 Geoscience
"The World in a River" : Redesigning An Earth Science Course for Pre-Service Elementary Teachers and Researching Its Impact on Learner Knowledge and Perspectives
Danielle Ford, University of Delaware
Susan McGeary, University of Delaware
Jennifer Gallo-Fox, University of Delaware
Cheryl Ackerman, University of Delaware
The University of Delaware's "World in a River" project, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, seeks to redesign the way teaching and learning occurs in an entry level Earth Science course that is required of all elementary pre-service teachers. Studies have shown that elementary teacher education students typically lack strong scientific content knowledge, have a limited understanding of the nature of science and scientific processes, and have limited confidence in their ability to learn and teach science. Using the Next Generation Science Standards and place-based, hands-on, technologically-enriched curricula, the redesigned course features an overarching theme of Earth system processes as exemplified within a single stream watershed. The goal of this project is threefold: to increase student learning and skill development, bolster the confidence of these future teachers in their ability to teach science, and increase their motivation to learn science. In this presentation, a science educator from the team will discuss the project research agenda, including the development of research questions and methodological approaches to understanding the impact of curriculum innovations on elementary pre-service teacher knowledge and attitudes. We are using a design-based approach to curriculum improvement, with iterative design, enactment, analysis, and redesign cycles, and a quasi-experimental design for evaluation, where the outcomes of the newly designed course will be compared with the outcomes of the traditional-format course. This allows us to test and evaluate the impact of these research-based pedagogical approaches and curriculum modifications on pre-service teacher learning, which in turn can inform educational research on Earth Science instruction for non-majors, and broader understandings of how pre-service teachers learn and engage with these concepts.
The impact of inquiry-based instructional methods in improving pre-service K-5 teachers' self-efficacy
Cinzia Cervato, Iowa State University
Charles Kerton, Iowa State University
It is known that pre-service elementary school teachers have low science teaching self-efficacy (i.e., low confidence in their ability to teach science), which in turn can influence negatively the quality of science education in elementary grades. We have collected over three years self-efficacy data on more than 300 pre-service K-5 teachers enrolled in a hybrid (online + face-to-face inquiry-based lab) course on Earth & Space Science. Data were collected over five different offerings of the course enabling us to investigate the effect of different instructional strategies on student self-efficacy as well as the effects of variation in class size and academic level. Activities designed to improve self-efficacy included a writing-to-learn assignment, the development of demonstrations suitable for the K-5 classroom targeting known children's misconceptions, and the writing of lesson plans. Two offerings of the class had no specific activity. To assess our students' science teaching self-efficacy, we used the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B), which consists of two components, Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PSTE) and Science Teaching Outcomes Expectancy (STOE), deployed as an anonymous online survey through the course's LMS. Students completed the survey at the start (pre-test) and at the end of the course (post-test), and results were compared both on individual questions and as a whole. In every semester, we found statistically significant increases in the students' science-teaching self efficacy in the PSTE scores while STOE scores showed no change. These results are comparable to what other researchers found at other institutions offering inquiry-based courses on the same content but with significantly smaller enrollments. The robustness of these results suggests that while specific activities aimed at improving self-efficacy can be useful, the most important aspect of the course is that it must include some aspect of inquiry.
Rock Experts: an innovative rock lab for preservice elementary teachers
Cinzia Cervato, Iowa State University
Charles Kerton, Iowa State University
Diana Thatcher, Iowa State University
Natalie Thompson, Iowa State University
Rocks are part of the curriculum of all introductory geology labs. To avoid having students memorize names and complete worksheets without understanding the significance of rocks as fundamental components of the Earth's systems, we have implemented a two-week lab that engages students with piles of unidentified, but representative, samples and the task to actively engage in the identification process using a jigsaw approach. During the first lab, students are asked to become 'experts' of one rock group. After spending some time with the hand samples, completing a scavenger hunt, and working through the identification charts independently, three groups of student 'experts' gather in teams. The students creatively teach each other the characteristics and differences of the three rock types and work together to identify a pile of rock specimens using what they learned about each group. The outcome of this two-lab sequence is the transformation of our students from confused to excited, and an encouraging sense of ownership of their learning and significant growth in their science teaching self-efficacy. Through this first week of 'expert group' activities, the students gain understanding of their own 'expert group' of rocks. By the second week, they are ready to tackle identifying samples confidently.
Supporting K-12 Teachers' Instruction about Water using Scientific Modeling: A View Across Programs
Tina Vo, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Cory Forbes, The University of Texas at Arlington
Scientific modeling is a core practice used extensively in the geosciences to explain concepts, predict phenomena, and illustrate and represent interactions and relationships within complex Earth systems. One complex Earth system that spans K-12 standards for science teaching and learning is water. To help students become more scientifically-literate, teachers must support students' model-based reasoning about water systems. However, prior research has shown that teachers need support to effectively engage students in model-based experiences with water. To address this need, our team has designed and implemented multiple programs over the past five years to enhance professional learning of both preservice and inservice K-12 teachers spanning multiple externally-funded projects. A consistent thread in this work has been an emphasis on scientific modeling to teach and support students' learning about water systems. To meet the unique and varied needs of prospective and practicing teachers as professional learners, we designed rich learning opportunities for teachers to iteratively co-construct instructional materials, enhance their conceptual understanding of water-related phenomena, and reflect on samples of classroom instruction. We also supported teachers' engagement with computer-based water models, simulations, and visualizations as teaching and learning tools. Each project was research-based and developed to meet the unique needs of the population we sought to serve. In this presentation, we examine the different structures we utilized to address the needs of preservice and inservice elementary, middle, and high school teachers teaching about water using scientific models and modeling. We also discuss how each group struggled with various aspects of teaching their students about scientific modeling as a practice of science and how professional learning opportunities ameliorated aspects of those issues, providing examples and artifacts that could prove useful in others involved in geoscience teacher professional development, teacher education, curriculum implementation, and education research.
Eat All the Pez: Interdisciplinary Curriculum Ideas for K-12 Teacher Professional Development
Eliza Richardson, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Earth science is the smallest discipline among the sciences in terms of number of certified teachers at the K-12 level (compared to biology, chemistry, and physics). Some states require no instruction in Earth sciences after middle school at all, yet it is becoming increasingly important for citizens to be prepared to make decisions about such topics as climate, energy, and land use. A sneakily legitimate way to ensure Earth science is taught in schools is for those who regularly conduct professional development for teachers to find cross-disciplinary activities that could be taught under the umbrella of another science discipline but that have a strong Earth science component. For example, optics is a topic covered in a physical science or general science class, not necessarily in an Earth science class. However, having a good sense about how light waves are refracted and reflected at the interface between two materials has direct applications for grasping how seismic body waves travel through the mantle. Here I detail a hands-on lab activity created for teacher online professional development. In this activity, students/teachers calculate the index of refraction of water by measuring the angles of incidence and refraction of light as it passes from air to water. This lab is part of a larger lesson in which the ultimate objective is for students/teachers to make their own observations using real seismic data and be able to build a chain of inference to observe that body wave speeds increase with depth and follow curved paths. However, it may also be used as a standalone activity to teach Snell's Law.
CGRER & College of Education K-12 Climate Science Initiative
Andrea Malek, University of Iowa
Susanna Herder, University of Iowa
Ted Neal, University of Iowa
In the fall of 2015, Iowa adopted the new Iowa Science Standards, based on performance expectations in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The standards are still new to teachers, who are scrambling to plan for new expectations, in addition to learning new content (particularly the earth and space sciences). With educators feeling unprepared and unsupported, there is a clear need for a more effective way forward. Our project aims to provide teachers with a curricular framework that is data-driven, centered around phenomena, and NGSS-aligned. Each of the unit frameworks is connected through a phenomenon rather than a topic. This allows for place-based investigations, and gives teachers the ability to integrate and overlap standards, rather than attempting to cover all 25 standards in isolation. Each unit also relies on local, Iowa-specific data, and requires students to negotiate evidence-based claims in a meaningful context. Our first phenomena-based bundle is "Historical Land Use Change," and addresses nine of the 8th grade Iowa Science Standards. Students are asked, "How has your land changed over time, and how is that related to human activity?" They use real-time, local data sets that describe water quality, soil composition, land cover, and more. Teachers have access to the data sets, resources, and standards they need to feel supported, but are able to pick and choose which to use, and which sequence to take. Grounded in local data, a direct connection is built between students and data, and students and scientists. By the fall of 2017, we look forward to delivering our first professional development with the new bundle. With the future in mind, we are laying the groundwork to incorporate teacher feedback, strengthen the resources embedded in each inquiry framework, and build four other bundles to ultimately address the entire set of 8th grade Iowa Science Standards.
Integrated STEM in the El Ed: The Natural History of Our World
Leah Courtland, University of Indianapolis
Steve Spicklemire, University of Indianapolis
Elizabeth Turner, University of Indianapolis
Anne Cutler, University of Indianapolis
Mary Gobbett, University of Indianapolis
At the University of Indianapolis (UIndy), the School of Education has partnered with the Shaheen College of Arts and Science to develop a series of five courses known as the "STEM block" aimed at graduating STEM competent elementary education teachers. Faculty from Earth science, physics, biology, chemistry and engineering are working together to develop a suite of integrated science courses that build upon one another and relate to content students are experiencing in their elementary education coursework. This poster outlines how concepts traditionally covered separately in individual Earth science, physics, biology, engineering and chemistry courses have been integrated into a single course with the aim of promoting science literacy and enabling future educators to consider science as an integrated set of methodologies for exploring the world around us. Attendees will explore one of the five integrated science courses of the Elementary Education STEM block: The Natural History of Our World, which introduces students to the methods by which we develop understanding of the history of the universe. Specific emphasis is on the formation of our solar system and particular properties of our planet with an emphasis on the development of life and the mechanisms responsible for plate tectonics. Students in the course will be guided in their investigations through a short series of inquiry projects and will develop a set of educational activities appropriate to elementary students. Emphasis of the presentation is on the process undertaken by the faculty of both schools, still ongoing, that enabled them to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries to design these courses, which will be offered beginning in the Fall of 2018.
Teaching Geoscience in a Societal Context
Student Learning of Complex Earth Systems: A Model to Guide Development of Student Expertise in Problem Solving
Lauren Holder, Texas A & M University
Hannah Scherer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
Bruce Herbert, Texas A & M University
Engaging students in authentic problem solving concerning environmental issues in near surface complex earth systems involves both developing student conceptualization of the earth as a system and applying that scientific knowledge using techniques that model those used by professionals. Problem solving is an important skill in the geosciences, and beyond, and many programs across the country believe that students should be able to work with, and suggest solutions to "wicked" or ill-structured problems. In order to address the nature of problem solving in the classroom, we reviewed the state of the geoscience education research field related to ill-structured problems, and propose a new model that applies the (1) National Research Council Science and Engineering Practices to (2) ill-structured problems surrounding complex near surface Earth systems (CNSES) within a (3) more authentic classroom. We suggest the proposed model will help to alleviate problems that arise from lack of background knowledge, lack of enthusiasm about the course or problem, and lack of critical thinking surrounding CNSES. We seek comments and suggestions to improve this proposed three-part model.