making your course worth their time

This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331

Making your course worth their time:Maximizing student learning in your

introductory and General Education Earth science courses

Anne E. Egger, Central Washington University

Current NAGT PresidentInTeGrate co-PI

Who are you?• Raise your hand if:

– You teach an intro/Gen Ed course in Earth science (college or high school)

– Keep your hand up if that course includes significant content in climate or sustainability

• If you don’t teach, type in the chat window very briefly what you do.

Learning goals

By the end of this hour, you will be able to:• Consider the role of introductory Earth

science undergraduate courses in the larger educational landscape

• Describe some strategies for fitting in to that landscape better.

How we will get there

• Guiding documents• Comparing the guiding documents with

what goes on in our classrooms• Strategies for change

Guiding documents: The literaciesBackground and guiding documents

Background and guiding documents


Guiding documents: The standards

Key themes• Emphasis on human interactions with Earth

– How Earth affects us (hazards, climate)– How we affect Earth (sustainability, climate)

• Emphasis on engaging in the process of science– Science and engineering practices and learning by doing– Techniques and tools that Earth scientists use

Why does this matter for us, as geoscientists in post-secondary education?


In 2011, 103,992 students obtained Bachelor’s degrees

in EducationCompared to 4671 in

geosciences


We teach a lot of future teachers

Millions of high school students will be coming to us having grown up on these


Will we be ready for them?

What is different?Top 12 chapter titles• Plate tectonics• Minerals/Earth Materials• Earthquakes • Groundwater• Streams/running water• Geologic time/deep time• Sedimentary rocks• Igneous Rocks and magma• Metamorphism and

Metamorphic rocks• Volcanoes• Glaciers/glaciation• Mass wasting/landslides

Disciplinary core ideas• Earth’s Systems

– Earth’s materials and systems

– Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions

– The role of water in Earth’s surface processes

– Weather and climate– Biogeology

• Earth and human activity– Natural resources– Natural hazards– Human impacts on Earth

systems– Global climate change

In particular….

In the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), • The word “sustainability” appears only in the Earth and space

science Disciplinary Core Ideas;• The emphasis on connections between Earth and human

activity is much greater than in previous standards (both the NSES and state standards).

The burden is on us.

Content preparation of science teachers

Percent of practicing teachers with ≥1 college course in: Elementary Middle HighLife science 90 96 91

Chemistry 47 72 93

Physics 32 61 86

Earth/space science 65 75 61Environmental science 33 57 56

Engineering 1 7 14

Science education 89 89 85

Banilower et al., 2013

Content preparation of science teachers

Percent of practicing teachers with a college course in: Middle HighIntroductory earth/space science 75 61

One or more beyond intro 28 30

Geology 22 23

Astronomy 16 17

Physical geography 14 11

Meteorology 9 11

Oceanography 10 10

Banilower et al., 2013

What do they learn in that intro course?

Textbook PublisherTotal

chapters

Chapters w/ human impacts Title of chapter

Chapter number

1 Pearson 24 1 Global climate change 21

2 Pearson 20 1 Global climate change 20

3 Pearson 21 1 Global Warming: Real-time Change in the Earth System 21

4 Norton 23 1 Global Change In The Earth System 23

5 Norton 21 1 Global Change In The Earth System 21

6 McGraw-Hill 19 0 n/a n/a

7 McGraw-Hill 17 1 Global change 17

8 Wiley 21 1 Climate and our Changing Planet 19

9 Wiley 15 0 n/a n/a

Insight from textbooks

What do we expect them to teach?

What we teach

What we want them to teach

What they take

Currently…

New resources from InTeGrateCurricular materials that …• Address interdisciplinary grand challenges

society is facing• Use science and engineering practices,

highlighting geoscientific thinking• Make use of real-world data and issues• Develop students’ systems thinking• Follow best practices in teaching and learning• Are adaptable and adoptable by instructors in a

variety of settings

http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate


Materials make use of strategies that are well-aligned with NGSS and for effectively incorporating sustainability

Strategy #1Shift focus from causes to consequences

http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/mineral_resources/index.html

Earth PhenomenonCauses Consequences

• Why is petroleum found where it is?

• How do metallic ores form?

• What processes concentrate gold and silver?

Scarcity/uneven

distribution of mineral

resources• Why does the price of cobalt

change so much? • What effect does it have on

mining and the rest of the economy?

• How does the distribution and availability of a mineral resource impact how it is valued and used by humans?

Strategy #1Shift focus from causes to consequences

Chapter 23, Tarbuck & Lutgens

InTeGrate module

How do I do that?

Example: Cobalt Supply disruption during

conflict in Zaire

WHY COBALT IS FOUND IN SOME PLACES, NOT OTHERS

Along the way, you have to address…

HS performance expectation

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity

Strategy #2Connect Earth processes to people

http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/index.html

Earth ProcessEarth results People results

• What landforms are created by rivers?

• How do rivers move sediment?

• How do rivers change along their length?

Flowing water

• How do we determine the flood recurrence interval of rivers?

• What kinds of things can we do to mitigate the effects of flooding?

• Where is flooding the most common and most damaging?

Strategy #2Connect Earth processes to people

Chapter 14, Tarbuck & Lutgens

InTeGrate module

How do I do it?

Calculate the recurrence interval

SHAPE, LANDFORMS, AND LONGITUDINAL PROFILE OF RIVERS

Along the way, you have to address…

HS performance expectation

Your turn:

• Think about how you might use these (and other) strategies. In the chat window, type:– How you might “flip” a current topic in your

intro course to address a sustainability concept OR

– A strategy you’ve used to connect Earth science content to societal issues OR

– A topic or issue you would like strategy suggestions for

Going forward:• You have a critical role in preparing future

teachers—and all students—to address sustainability, but we’re not there yet

• You don’t have to start from scratch!– Known strategies that work– Materials ready to go– http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate


http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/geosci_methods/index.html

Strategy #3Practice decision-making

Problem: To what extent should we build and/or rebuild coastal communities?

• In groups, students select a coastal region• Then they research key data types for that

region (sea level rise, model predictions)• AND characteristics of the community they

selected• Finally, they write an “argument- and evidence-

based position paper” on:

Assembling the evidence

Reaching a decision and articulating the argument

Measuring student learning

• Working hypotheses: Evidence from geoscience data• Working hypotheses: Support from scientific literature• Organization and use of transitions to clarify relationships among ideas• Use of a formal style and standard English

making your course worth their time

Documents