The Science of Disasters eTextbook Activity

This e-textbook activity is designed to introduce students to key concepts associated with disaster science. The student should gain an understanding of the science of natural hazards they will learn about the different types of hazards. They will learn definitions such as hazard, disaster, and catastrophe. They will learn about the scientific method and the difference between a hypothesis and a theory. They will learn about probability, risk, and resiliency. And, they will learn how science helps to understand and militate against disasters. Risk and resiliency is addressed by defining what it is and how it plays a role in decision making.

The e-textbook is designed for an introductory college level disasters class for non-science majors. The e-textbook activity takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. It is an interactive online textbook designed to give students an introduction to key concepts before coming to class. There are no prerequisites for the activity. Students will need internet access with an updated java plugin. The activity is easy for student to do. They can do the activity as many times as they want. It is designed to be used at the beginning of the course.

The Science of Disasters e-textbook activity can be found here: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/eZGq5xATvpF1ca/html. It is a SoftChalk activity consisting of 10-pages. Each page contains questions about the text or video being displayed. There are a total of 25 questions. Students are encouraged to score a 70% or higher on the activity. They can do the activity as many times as they want.

The activity is designed to be used in a flip classroom or online class. It is an e-textbook used to give students an introduction to the topic of disaster science including relevant definitions. Students need an updated browser with current plugins to be able to view the activity. I assign it as a reading activity before coming to class the first week of the semester.

The purpose of the e-textbook is to get students to think about the topic before coming to class. There are a total of 25 questions embedded in the e-textbook. These questions are there to give students points for doing the activity. Students are encouraged to score a 70% or higher. In a Canvas course management system these points would feed directly into the grade book. However, students can print out a certificate of completion with their name and a summary score sheet which can be turned in for credit.

The Science of Disasters e-textbook activity can be found here: https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/eZGq5xATvpF1ca/html. The activity is still being developed and will be changing for the fall semester.