Susan Schwartz

Determining Plate Rates From Hot Spot Tracks Using Google Earth part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching About Earth Online Workshop:Activities
This activity uses Google Earth to explore the distribution of plate boundaries and hotspot volcanoes on Earth. It uses the ages and locations of the hotspot volcanoes to determine the direction and rate of plate ...

Susan Schwartz, University of California-Santa Cruz part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching About Earth Online Workshop:Essays
Personal profile page of geoscience educator Susan Schwartz from UC Santa Cruz, detailing her evidence-based practices for effective online Earth Science instruction, including short video lectures, frequent low-stakes quizzes, Google Earth–based virtual fieldwork, and the use of Piazza for collaborative learning in asynchronous courses.

Susan Schwartz: Using Modeling Flood Hazards in Geologic Hazards at University of California Santa Cruz part of Flood Hazards
The Flipped Classroom Successfully Replaces Lecture with Active Learning. The overarching concept of a flipped classroom is to deliver course content outside of the classroom (via pre-class readings, recorded video lectures, or other strategies) that provides the foundation for in-class active learning exercises that allow students to engage more deeply with the material, thinking and reasoning like a geoscientist rather than relying on more superficial memorization. Success of this teaching model is not guaranteed and requires finding realistic and engaging activities. This module on flood hazards contains several such activities. It takes students from basic hydrologic concepts through authentic construction of a FEMA 100 year flood map. It illustrates how LIDAR data can be used to compute hydraulic properties of a river and how this information is incorporated into hydraulic models of flooding.