James McNamara: Using Modeling Flood Hazards in Hydrology at Boise State University

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About this Course

Required course for senior Geoscience majors in a Hydrologic Science track, and introductory graduate course for MS Hydrologic Science students.

18

students

Two 75 minute lecture sessions

Hydrology Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 134kB Jul7 20)

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Interdisciplinary Earth science concerned with the movement and occurrence of water. Watershed-based hydrologic phenomena including water cycle analysis, precipitation, evapotranspiration, snow/snowmelt, streamflow, floods, routing and surface runoff events. Application of analytical techniques to solve water resource problems.

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1. Describe the physical principles governing the storage and transfer of water in and between reservoirs in natural and built hydrologic systems

2. Describe how components of the hydrologic cycle impact and are impacted by humans

3. Apply standard solution techniques to compute hydrologic fluxes and stores for common hydrologic problems.

4. Develop solution strategies for solving interactions between hydrologic variables in natural and built hydrologic systems

5. Identify assumptions and uncertainty in commonly used theories and solutions in hydrologic science

My course is a lecture-based course designed for juniors, seniors, and first-year graduate students in Geoscience Hydrology programs. I typically rush through the theory of each process in the hydrologic cycle, and then assign textbook-based homework assignments for assessments. In recent years I have been transitioning the class to be more project-based. This module has helped me in that transition.

Students appreciated the applied nature of the module. With less emphasis on listening to lectures on theory, students were able to spend time exploring data, interpreting observations, and writing conclusions.

Relationship of GETSI Materials to my Course

My course is a full 16 week semester. This module was completed during the final weeks of the semester. The course focuses on physics of hydrologic processes including water balance, precipitation, snowmelt, evapotranspiration, soil and groundwater flow, and streamflow. I used this module to supplement the streamflow section.

A Unit-by-Unit Breakdown of How I Taught this Module

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Assessments

I used the student assignments as assessments in Units 2, 3, and 4 essentially unmodified. I did not feel that the assessment in Unit 1 was appropriate for the class. The final summative assessment in Unit 5 was due at the very end of the semester, so I did not have much time to determine how students felt about it. A few comments in the course evaluations said the project was valuable.

Outcomes

I intend to transition my entire class to be more project based. In this module, any shortcomings were more related to my ability to replace lectures with projects. I do feel that the overall module is too long for my course. I need to figure out if I modify my course to accommodate long projects, or if I modify the module. I do think that students enjoy the projects more than sitting in lectures. However, I also feel that students need to be introduced to the theory at some point in their lives. I am working on finding that balance.