Instructor Stories and Adaptations

These resources describe how the module was adapted for use in different settings. We hope these stories inspire your own use of the module and give you insight into how to adapt the materials for your classroom.

[thumbimage 114411 left hidecaption dunn_story.html ]Allison Dunn: Physical Geography at Worcester State University In the spring of 2016 I used Earth's Thermostat at Worcester State University, a medium-sized public institution with a high proportion of commuter students.


[thumbimage 114546 left hidecaption mackay_story.html ]Robert MacKay: Meteorology 101: The Atmosphere and the Environment at Clark College All units in this module were implemented in my 10 week introductory meteorology course for non-science majors at our community college. Units 1-3 were completed early in the term as they help lay a foundation for understanding weather, climate change, and systems thinking---all important in this course. Units 4 and 5 were completed in week 6 and the capstone project was introduced in week 9 giving students two weeks to complete this assignment. My overall impression from student responses and in-class observations is that they became truly engaged in group work, looking at real data, and developing stories/explanations of what the data suggested. The interactive engagement encouraged by these activities make them exciting learning experiences for both students and instructor.

Phil Resor: Dynamic Earth at Wesleyan University This module was used during two weeks of an introductory geology course as a bridge between solid Earth and Earth surface topics. The class serves as both a gateway to the Earth and Environmental Science major as well as a science general education course. The interactive and hands-on nature of the module led students to develop a clear understanding of Earth's climate system. Students successfully applied this knowledge later in the semester to problems related to weathering, sedimentary environments, and global change. The use of volcanic forcing in the module's capstone was a nice connection to solid Earth topics covered earlier in my course.

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