Howard Community College: Using the TIDeS module in PHYS 106- Earth and Space Science

• 1.1 Students got really into the making observations and interpretations exercises, and it was a great introduction to the semester because students are using critical thinking and also getting satisfaction out of making interpretations. It's a good way to build confidence and group cohesion early in the semester. 
• 1.2 Students had variable experiences with the Visionlearning readings. Many students struggled with the language, so for faculty who teach at open-enrollment schools or have many English language learners, this may be a frustrating activity. For students with very strong reading comprehension skills and who were already excited about science, the Visionlearning readings provided interesting case studies. I used this for two semesters but now have students examine the process of science using the UCMP Understanding Science 101 website, which is written at a more accessible level. 
• 1.3 Students liked choosing their own locations, although some struggled to create good scientific questions. However, that led to good group discussions about what types of questions could be answered by scientific studies.

Unit 2

• 2. 1 Making observations from maps: Students do best when they are reminded that they are making observations only and not interpretations at all. I went through some examples with the class to provide them with suggested vocabulary. Students tend to use temporal language ("sporadic") instead of spatial language ("linear," "clustered" "widely distributed") so giving examples helps.
• 2.2 The UNAVCO/Earthscope online tools are helpful but take some time for students to get comfortable with. We started the plate motion calculations together in class to build confidence. I recommend clarifying the data used/frames of reference (I had students use rolling chairs and stationary desks to demonstrate frames of reference the second semester). We did not do the activity with predicting future plate arrangements.

Unit 3

• 3.1 We started with students making observations and their own classifications as practice before introducing the standard mineral classification. This ran as a pretty standard mineral and rock ID lab.
• 3.2 We started with the jigsaw in which students come up with necessary minerals for different sectors of society. This went pretty well, but students tended to Google search for components and would end up with some random answers/minor components. The Excel spreadsheet linked in the module has examples of common resources, so as to reduce the amount of internet searching necessary. However, the list is in no way comprehensive.
• 3.3 The worksheet has been revised since the last pilot. Students did well with matching current processes to resource formation but struggled with using geological maps to predict locations of resources.

Unit 4

• Overall: This unit has several great activities but I found I needed to do some more traditional lectures at the beginning to introduce key vocabulary and concepts. 
• 4.2 We started with exploring the weather app, comparing and contrasting two places with different climates. Then we went outside to make observations of current weather conditions and talked about the background for each one while outside, but we did not have the necessary tools to take our own measurements (sling psychrometer, anemometer, etc).
• 4.3 Daily weather and climate normals 
  This activity has a lot of potential but my students needed a lot of guidance in both creating graphs and interpreting them. Next time I use this activity, I will ask students to articulate their predictions for what the data will look like before they graph it, and then ask them to give more detailed responses, as well as working through more examples in class. 
  Past weather data can also be downloaded from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/
• 4.4 Students read about severe weather as pre-work. Groups of students were assigned 2 types of severe weather, and used the linked websites to explore the distribution of the severe weather. We did not do the in-depth presentations as described in the module, but each group presented their key findings and scientific questions to the class. 
  We did a full-class summary of the key factors that contribute to severe weather. We also discussed severe weather events in the news at the time of the class. We completed the fire weather activity, and used data from my local region as a second example, as there happened to be a fire weather warning for my region the day we did this in class. 
• 4.5 We did not do in my class. 
• 4.6 and 4.7 we completed as described. Two recommendations for instructors: Really emphasize the need to explain why students chose their inputs for the NOAA graph, and consider having some students present their graphs and explanations, and have the class determine whether they provide relevant information for the question or not. When students complete their second hurricane damage model, be sure that they incorporate the information they learned throughout units 4.6 and 4.7 into their new model (otherwise the initial and final models might not be that different).

Unit 5

• We did not use materials from Unit 5.

Unit 6

• Unit 6.1 We did most of unit 6.1 as described. 
• We did not do any other parts of Unit 6.