2009 Opportunities and Challenges in Computational Geophysics

Geoscience On-Line Instructional Resources Available through SERC

Compiled by David W. Mogk, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Montana State University

A wide range of on-line educational resources can be found at the Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College. This site hosts collections of resources and teaching activities related to disciplinary topics (e.g., mineralogy, petrology, etc), pedagogic practice, assessment, and professional career development. All modules are built with digital library technology for ease of search/browse functions and easy navigation. Here is a list of links to these aggregated resources:

• Homepage of the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College; here you will find two portals: Teach the Earth for geoscience specific content and Pedagogy in Action for more general resources on STEM education
• NAGT--National Association of Geoscience Teachers, with links to Journal of Geoscience Education articles; JOIN TODAY!
• Integrating Research and Education, includes advice to scientists who want to optimize their NSF-required Broader Impacts; and also contains numerous modules demonstrating way to incorporate exciting new scientific discoveries into effective instructional practice by:
  • Web-Based Modules Focused on Geo-Cyberinfrastructure and On-Line Databases
    • Teaching with the EarthChem Geochemical Database
    • Teaching Mineralogy with Crystal Structure Databases and Visualization Software
    • Teaching Phase Equilibria—From the Phase Rule to Thermodynamic Modeling Programs
    • Tutorials on Geochemical Instrumentation and Analysis
    • Teaching with Visualizations (What do students really see? Learn more about effective use of visualizations in the classroom)
    • Using Data in the Classroom Portal (Data sources, tools, teaching methods
    • Teaching with Data Simulations and Models

• Starting Point; over 20 modules that describe a variety of active learning methods, with examples from the geosciences. The focus is on introductory courses, but the methods are applicable across the geoscience curriculum.
• On the Cutting Edge program; workshops and related web-based resources that cover the "core courses" of undergraduate geoscience, "emerging themes", pedagogic practice, and faculty professional development. Topics include:

  MANAGING YOUR CAREER

  • Preparing for an Academic Career (for Post-docs and senior grad students)
  • Early Career Faculty (Career development for pre-tenure faculty)
  • Strategic Persuasion - A seminar in effective negotiations, problem-solving, and conflict resolution

  RESEARCH ON LEARNING

  • Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences (teaching about "deep time," spatial relations, complex systems, and in the field--research opportunities and collaborations with the cognitive sciences)
  • Teaching in the Affective Domain (Motivating students, attitudes, values)
  • The Role of Metacognition in Teaching Geoscience (helping students become "purposeful learners," developing scientific habits of mind, self-aware and self-regulatory learners
  • Assessment of Learning (strategies and methods to assess learning outcomes)

  ENHANCING YOUR TEACHING

  • Course Design (defining learning goals, using effective teaching strategies)
  • Teaching Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences
  • Teaching in the Field
  • Urban Students and Urban Issues
  • Creating Effective Web-Based Learning Resources (Design principles and "best practices")

  GEOSCIENCE "CORE" COURSES

  • Teaching Introductory Geoscience
  • Teaching Mineralogy
  • Teaching Petrology
  • Teaching Geochemistry
  • Teaching Structural Geology
  • Teaching Geophysics
  • Teaching Hydrogeology
  • Teaching Sedimentary Geology
  • Teaching Paleontology

  SPECIAL TOPICS AND "EMERGING THEMES" IN THE GEOSCIENCES

  • Early Earth: Evolution of Tectonics, Life and the Early Atmosphere
  • Discoveries from Mars
  • Teaching About the Ocean System: Data, Models, Visualizations
  • Biocomplexity in the Earth Sciences
  • Climate Change
  • The Hurricane-Climate Change Connection: Bringing Cutting Edge Research Into the Classroom
  • Geology and Human Health
  • Teaching Public Policy in the Earth Sciences
  • Teaching About Energy
  • MARGINS Data in the Classroom
  • Teaching with CHRONOS data and tools
  • Teaching with GeoPads—Ruggedized Computers for Mapping and Data Collection in the Field
  • Visualizing Seismic Waves for Teaching and Research

  TEACHING WITH AN EARTH SYSTEM APPROACH

  • All Things Cretaceous
  • Exploring the Yellowstone Geoecosystem
  • Environmental Health Risk Inventory
  • Teaching with Hurricane Katrina
  • Advances in Paleontology—New Ways to Study Ancient Life

  WEB-BASED MODULES FOCUSED ON DIVERSITY ISSUES

  • Impacts of Resource Development on Native American Lands
    • Uranium Mining on the Navajo Nation
    • Gold Mining and the Fort Belknap Reservation
    • Coal Bed Methane and the Crow Reservation
    • Water Resources and the Nez Perce Reservation
    • Gold Mining and the Pine Ridge Reservation
    • Resources of the Pribilof Islands

  OTHER PROJECTS RELATED TO GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

  • Earth Exploration Toolbook; Primers and examples with step by step instructions on how to access and use a variety of Earth data with worked examples.
  • Microbial Life Educational Resources; includes "primers" on microbiology research techniques; profiles of Microbial Observatory research projects; and thematic collections on life in extreme environments and life in the ocean system
  • Science in the Courtroom, the Woburn Toxic Trial; (a compilation of all the evidence used in "A Civil Action" needed to conduct a mock trial)
  • Building Strong Geoscience Departments
  • Preparing Teachers to Teach Earth Science

FOR RESEARCHERS

This module provides a variety of resources for researchers who would like to translate their research results into education and outreach activities. This module provides background information and related resources for scientists and educators on:

• NSF’s “Criterion 2” Broader Impacts
• Incentives and Related Resources
• Bridges: Connecting Research and Education in the Earth System Sciences (Recommendations from the pre-planning committee of the "Geoscience Education in the Next Millennium" meeting at the National Science Foundation)
• Tips on Assessment, Evaluation and Dissemination
• Tips on Partnering
• Profiles of research projects in the NSF/BIO Microbial Observatory Program
• Registry of Analytical Equipment