Using InTeGrate in Online or Hybrid Courses

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InTeGrate Webinar: Adapting InTeGrate Modules for Biology Courses and Online Courses
Learn more about how faculty have adapted InTeGrate teaching materials for other disciplines and course formats.

A number of the modules and courses developed for InTeGrate were written specifically for use in online or hybrid classrooms.

InTeGrate Interdisciplinary Distance Learning Courses »

In addition, one of the Implementation Programs (Penn State) focused specifically on broadening the reach of geoscience content via distance learning and two others (Claflin and Mercer) included faculty who used InTeGrate materials in their online courses.

Pennsylvania State University Distance Learning CoursesClaflin University CU InTeGrated!Mercer University Providing Cultural and Regional Relevance to Issues of Global Sustainability

How Instructors Across the Country Have Used InTeGrate Materials in Online and Hybrid Courses

Adriana Perez: Using Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources in Physical Geology at El Paso Community College
Students in Physical Geology study the principles and processes of physical geology with emphasis on Earth's materials, structures, landforms, and mineral resources. The course is recommended for all students majoring in science or engineering.

Jennifer Hanselman: Using Cli-Fi at Westfield State University
BIOL 680 Climate Change is a graduate-level course offered through the Department of Graduate and Continuing Education at Westfield State University. The course satisfies one of the required content-specific courses in a M.Ed. Biology Education program (addresses NSTA Standards 1 and 2). The course is also open to those who currently have a bachelor's degree and need additional credits for additional licensure or for other disciplines, such as the interdisciplinary science requirements within patent law.

Robert Loeb: Using the A Growing Concern Module in Introductory Soil Science at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBois
Robert Loeb, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The goal of Introductory Soil Science is to introduce the study of soil properties and processes and their relationships to land use, plant growth, environmental quality, and society. My offering of the course is online and serves a population of students who are primarily majors in the agricultural and earth sciences. Transforming the six units of a Growing Concern from the face-to-face format to the on-line setting resulted in valuable additions in regard to environmental quality and society.

Russanne Low: Using Food Security in Science Systems Environment and Sustainability at University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Russanne Low, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
InTeGrate Modules work on-line! This is an example of an InTeGrate module, taught on-line and asynchronously in a large class format. The module was embedded in a team-taught introductory environmental science course offered by UNL's School of Natural Resources. The course emphasizes the importance of personal ethics, social responsibility, and sustainable practices as linkages between the environment and society. This module served as the culminating activity for the course, and students were challenged to apply systems thinking in an exploration of the complex, multiscalar factors that contribute to the wicked problem of global food security in their assigned region.

Adam Hoffman: Using in Introduction to the Critical Zone Sciences at University of Dubuque
Adam Hoffman, University of Dubuque
I have had success teaching the entire Introduction to Critical Zone Sciences course in a variety of contexts. I first taught the course in a traditional face-to-face format over the course of a semester. The students were very excited and enjoyed the variety of disciplines covered in the course and the real-world data that were assigned to interact with. The second time I taught the course I taught it as an online summer class and again the feedback was positive regarding the data analysis activities.

Best Practices in Teaching About Earth Online

In 2017, InTeGrate brought together a group faculty who teach online or hybrid geoscience courses to share their expertise in Teaching about Earth Online. Over the course of the workshop, these participants constructed some best practices in teaching geoscience online and shared examples for their own experiences. Their advice for others teaching online falls into five categories.

Develop Communication and a Sense of Community Among ParticipantsMake Content Relevant to Students' LivesDevelop Activity Frameworks that Scale with Class SizeInclude Information Literacy and Critical Evaluation of SourcesEmploy Effective Management and Assessment Strategies

Resources

Workshop participants had many suggestions of useful resources for managing engagement and interaction, finding online data, and helping students develop their geoscientific thinking skills.


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