Initial Publication Date: January 9, 2025
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Middle Tennessee State University: Using the TIDeS module in Introduction to Earth Science

Mark Abolins, Middle Tennessee State University

Why I Revised My Course

About the Course

Introduction to Earth Science

Level: This is one of two lecture/lab course options available to students completing the True Blue Core (general education) Scientific Literacy requirement.
Size: 75-120+ students
Format: Either two 85-minute lecture sessions or three 55-min lecture sessions depending on section.

Show Course Description

The earth and its relationship to its space and environment emphasized. Forces and processes which combine to mold the face of the earth and its atmosphere, as well as the internal constitution of the earth. Three hours lecture.Together, GEOL 1030 and GEOL 1031 satisfy 4 hours of the Natural Sciences portion of the General Education requirement.

What students do

Students systematically explore issues, problems, objects, and works through the collection and analysis of evidence, identification of informed conclusions, and analysis of complex topics by breaking them down.

1. You will use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand our planet.
2. You will apply an understanding of deep time to explain change in the Earth.
3. You will describe the Earth as a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, life, and energy.
4. You will analyze and interpret data to make informed decisions about societally relevant problems, including those involving natural hazards and resources.
5. You will demonstrate awareness of opportunities for career development and further study in the Earth Sciences – both at MTSU and in the world at large.
6. You will describe connections between the Earth and its surroundings in space.

Syllabus for MTSU Geol 1030 Introduction to Earth Science (Acrobat (PDF) 2.4MB Aug19 24)

Participation in TIDeS provided me with the opportunity to (a) strengthen what students learn about nature-of-science and practice-of-science and (b) update active learning materials by collaborating with a stellar group of Earth Science educators. I improved my teaching about the scientific method by incorporating Visionlearning no-cost on-line readings and the non-linear Harwood activity model of scientific inquiry. I am especially committed to the Harwood activity model as a way to help students understand the actual behavior of practicing scientists including me.

Throughout the course, students investigate ways to design a habitable future. In doing so, students primarily investigate discoveries and events post-dating their birth and generally dating back less than 5-10 years. I highlight a couple of examples here. One involved the plate tectonics unit (Unit 2) developed by Dr. Karen Viskupic. Although by its nature that unit largely focuses on the distant past, students investigate videos and animations published since 2016. Another example is the part of Unit 5 in which students investigate the inland flooding that accompanied 2017 Hurricane Harvey in the Houston, TX, metropolitan area. The organization, goals, and pedagogy of that unit draw heavily on an Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) unit developed by Dr. Kyle Gray. However, the InTeGrate unit focuses on 1993 flooding on the Mississippi River in Iowa. By moving forward in time and moving the geographic focus to the Gulf Coast, it has been possible to better-connect the topic of flooding with contemporary issues revolving around hurricanes, dams, sea level rise, and managed retreat.

He did a very good job of applying earth science to the real world, and made it interesting and applicable to students' lives.

My Experience Teaching with TIDeS Materials

This course helps students learn how scientists actually solve societal problems. The students investigate ways to design a habitable future. Students gain up-to-date knowledge about recent natural events and scientific discoveries.

A Unit-by-Unit Breakdown of How I Taught this Module

Unit Breakdown

Unit 1

I adapted TIDeS for use in a 75+ student "lecture" course taught in an auditorium. There were formative and summative assessments. Formative assessments included both classroom-response system ("clicker") prompts and learning management system (LMS) quizzes. These assessments were low-stakes and almost entirely multiple-choice and true/false. Prompts and correct responses are available upon request. LMS quizzes required students to read no-cost on-line Visionlearning materials and respond to related prompts. Students also responded to many prompts requiring written answers, but these answers were not collected and scored. Rather, student responses were considered note-taking or self-reflection. Students also discussed responses with students sitting near them.

Unit 2

Highlight: Drawing on the profile of plate tectonics pioneer Marie Tharp, I created a learning management system multiple-choice and true/false "women's history of plate tectonics" quiz drawing from on-line sources of information about her.

Unit 3

Highlight: Students learn about the connection between rivers, sand and gravel quarries, and construction. This is highly relevant at MTSU where a substantial number of alumni work in quarrying and mining in general.

Unit 4

Highlight: To accommodate student learning in an auditorium setting, students participated in an innovative jigsaw. Students formed small groups with those sitting around them. Each group had at least one laptop. Within each group, students used on-line sources to learn about a weather hazard (e.g., tornadoes). Different groups learned about different hazards. Within each group, one student posted to an on-line discussion the group's information about that group's hazard. After the groups posted about their various hazards, students learned about all of the hazards by visiting the various on-line discussion areas.

Unit 5

Highlight: Students investigate a possible example of a landslide triggered by the sudden draw down of a lake.

Unit 6

Highlights: I created a pair of extra credit multiple-choice and true/false learning management system quizzes based on content in this unit. In one, students investigate a job ad involving the search for minerals on Mars, and in another, students learn about the operation of a Mars rover.

Assessments

The format of formative and summative assessments was largely unchanged, although the content changed to align with TIDeS. There were three multiple-choice and true-false summative assessments and a final exam. Results indicate that it is likely that students gained knowledge about the scientific process as described in Unit 1 because students generally responded correctly to prompts, and what they learned in Unit 1 probably differed significantly from what they learned in other introductory science courses. Similarly, assessment of other units indicated learning. Assessments also showed that students could generally interpret TIDeS graphs and maps correctly. Also, assessment showed that students had gained knowledge about how a floodplain buy out program had affected low-income residents differently. There were also extra credit assessments through which students demonstrated gains in knowledge about plate tectonics historical figure Marie Tharp and a young woman who recently chose to pursue a career in hydrology.

Outcomes

Assessment data shows that students investigated authentic Earth information and used what they learned to design a habitable future. They envisioned the use of authentic scientific research methods to find resources and build resilience in the face of solid Earth, weather, and hydrologic hazards. They also recognized that all people are a part of finding solutions, that hazards can affect different people differently, and that some hazards are changing.

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