ED32A-01
Data Resources for Accessing MARGINS, Ridge 2000 and ODP Data
Web-based digital databases are being developed by a number of academic and governmental groups to improve the ability of researchers and students to access geoscience data in a convenient and user-friendly manner. With funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS) (http://www.marine-geo.org/) serves as the data portal for the NSF MARGINS program, providing free public access and preservation to a wide variety of marine and terrestrial data collected during MARGINS projects. The broad suite of integrated database holdings includes rock, fluid, biology and sediment samples information and station details, multibeam bathymetry and underway geophysical data, multi-channel seismics, and water column data. Seamless links point to external repositories for geodetic data (UNAVCO), and land seismic campaign data (IRIS). GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org/), an MGDS data visualization tool, supports map-based dynamic exploration of data using a multi-resolution global digital elevation model. Built-in land and marine data sets include EarthChem geochemistry, plate boundaries, DSDP/ODP core logs, earthquake events, seafloor photos, and submersible dive tracks. Users can also access land and marine data sets through OGC-compliant Web Services provided by external repositories including PetDB, UNAVCO, IRIS and NGDC. Users can generate custom maps and grids and import their own data sets and grids. A set of short, video-style online tutorials familiarises users step-by-step with GeoMapApp functionality (http://www.geomapapp.org/tutorials/). GeoMapApp is used in a number of undergraduate mini-lessons created during the MARGINS EPO workshop (April, 2007) and is the basis for two education modules hosted at SERC-Carlton (http://www.marine- geo.org/Education.html). MGDS data portal resources make available a wide variety of real scientific data from large NSF-supported research programs. Examples of accessing and manipulating a range of data sets from the MARGINS, DSDP/ODP and Ridge 2000 programs will be shown.
ED32A-02
Sea & See Experiences for Undergraduates: Educational Outreach in Papua New Guinea
As scientists involved in the NSF-MARGINS Source-to-Sink (S2S) initiative, we included education of undergraduates from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in our research mission. During a two-month cruise, many students participated in all aspects of scientific data collection, including acquiring sediment cores and geophysical data along the mid-shelf clinoform in the Gulf of Papua. Additionally, an educational website was created for web users around the globe to provide a daily journal and scientific background information relevant to the formation and evolution of the study area. As a follow-up two years later, researchers and graduate students funded by the grant hosted a three-day intensive course, as well as provided necessary hardware and software, allowing UPNG students to learn processing routines and examine pertinent data from their region. This experience not only offered instructive and enlightening opportunities to students from an underprivileged University to partake in a U.S. federally funded project, but we also donated state-of-the-art equipment for the Geology department at UPNG that will be utilized for years to come. Many of the students graduating from this program go on to work with the mining companies that are omnipresent in Papua New Guinea due to the abundant mineral resources in this region. Our goal was to provide an academic experience outside of the classroom demonstrating how non-commercial science fosters increased understanding and awareness through discovery of Earth's local geologic history. http://sio.ucsd.edu/png/
ED32A-03
Engaging a Diverse Group of Students with a Broad Spectrum of Geological Experience: The CSUN Catalyst Approach and a MARGINS Application
Imagine the challenge of teaching a one-unit Geoscience course composed of a diverse mix of first-year graduate majors, senior to freshman majors, and high school students with little earth science background. With the help of Geodiversity grants from NSF (CSUN Catalyst program), we have developed a successful environment for learning and mentorship via a series of short (2-3 week) inquiry-based exercises that emphasize teamwork. Each exercise is organized around research projects headed by Catalyst Faculty members: Northridge Earthquake, San Andreas Fault System, Yellowstone and Long Valley supervolcanoes, and New Zealand MARGIN geology. After participating in the course, students conduct independent research within one of four research groups as part of their MS or BS theses including summer research experiences. One exercise, constructed as a version of "The Oil Game," is meant to familiarize students with MARGINS Source-to-Sink focus (Waipaoa Sedimentary System, North Island) and alternate focus (Bounty Fan, South Island) sites in New Zealand. Students are divided into rival petroleum companies (Tiger Oil and Flower Petroleum) and asked to evaluate offshore areas for an impending government lease sale and to provide the rationale for competitive sealed bids that they recommend in a final presentation to management (Catalyst Faculty). To accomplish this they are supplied with reference materials on onshore geology and known petroleum production, samples of New Zealand rock units and stream sediments, and a limited budget. In addition to geological parameters (source rocks, seals, reservoir rocks, trapping mechanisms) they must also take into account environmental, economic and infrastructure concerns. Other projects included documenting volcanic hazards around Long Valley caldera and evaluating seismic hazards of local high school sites. The tiered structure of the projects perhaps best serves the undergraduate participants, who benefit from being mentored by graduate students as well as serving as mentors for the high school students.
ED32A-04
Using Research Data to Stimulate Critical Thinking in Undergraduate Geoscience Courses: Examples and Future Directions
The results of major research initiatives, such as NSF-MARGINS, IODP and its predecessors DSDP and ODP, Ridge 2000, and NOAA's Ocean Explorer and Vents Programs provide a rich library of resources for inquiry-based learning in undergraduate classes in the geosciences. These materials are scalable for use in general education courses for the non-science major to upper division major and graduate courses, which are both content-rich and research-based. Examples of these materials include images and animations drawn from computer presentations at research workshops and audio/video clips from web sites, as well as data repositories, which can be accessed through GeoMapApp, a data exploration and visualization tool developed as part of the Marine Geoscience Data System by researchers at the LDEO (http://www.geomapapp.org/). Past efforts have focused on recreating sea-going research experiences by integrating and repurposing these data in web-based virtual environments to stimulate active student participation in laboratory settings and at a distance over the WWW. Virtual expeditions have been created based on multibeam mapping of the seafloor near the Golden Gate, bathymetric transects of the major ocean basins, subduction zone seismicity and related tsunamis, water column mapping and submersible dives at hydrothermal vents, and ocean drilling of deep-sea sediments to explore climate change. Students also make use of multichannel seismic data provided through the Marine Seismic Data Center of UTIG to study subduction zone processes at convergent plate boundaries. We will present the initial stages of development of a web-based virtual expedition for use in undergraduate classes, based on a recent 3-D seismic survey associated with the NanTroSEIZE program of NSF-MARGINS and IODP to study the properties of the plate boundary fault system in the upper limit of the seismogenic zone off Japan. http://oceansjsu.com
ED32A-05
Teaching rapid climate change using examples from the geologic record - a discovery-based learning module for the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Science educators are increasingly incorporating aspects of climate change into undergraduate curricula. Teaching climate and climate change (particularly anthropogenic climate change) requires context from the geologic record. How has the Earth's climate varied in the past, and how does the magnitude or simulated magnitude of the current rate of climate change compare to events in the geologic record? We have created an inquiry-based learning module focused on the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), one of the most prominent and relevant examples of rapid global warming evident in the geologic record. The PETM occurred approximately 55 million years ago and was characterized by global warming, significant changes in the carbon and hydrologic cycles, and a myriad of biotic responses all of which are similar to the observed and/or predicted patterns of the current global warming trend. Our learning module is based on two types of primary data: the data collected during Ocean Drilling Program coring operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution, as well as "shore- based" analyses. The progression of the exercise allows students to experience the initial discovery of the signature of the PETM in deep-sea sediments and then compile data collected from 9 deep sea drill sites into a global picture to reconstruct the magnitude and scope of the event.
ED32A-06
The Svalbard REU Program: Undergraduates Pursuing Arctic Climate Change Research on Svalbard, Norway
The Svalbard Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program sponsored by the Arctic Natural Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation has been successfully providing international field research experiences since 2004. Each year, 7-9 undergraduate students have participated in 4-5 weeks of glacial geology and climate change fieldwork on Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago in the North Atlantic (76- 80° N lat.). While we continue to learn new and better ways to run our program, we have learned specific management and pedagogical strategies that allow us to streamline our logistics and to provide genuine, meaningful research opportunities to undergraduate students. We select student participants after extensive nationwide advertising and recruiting. Even before applying to the program, students understand that they will be doing meaningful climate change science, will take charge of their own project, and will be expected to continue their research at their home institution. We look for a strong commitment of support from a student's advisor at their home institution before accepting students into our program. We present clear information, including participant responsibilities, potential risks and hazards, application procedures, equipment needed, etc on our program website. The website also provides relevant research papers and data and results from previous years, so potential participants can see how their efforts will contribute to growing body of knowledge. New participants meet with the previous years' participants at a professional meeting (our "REUnion") before they start their field experience. During fieldwork, students are expected to develop research questions and test their own hypotheses while providing and responding to peer feedback. Professional assessment by an independent expert provides us with feedback that helps us improve logistical procedures and shape our educational strategies. The assessment also shows us how participant attitudes toward science and research evolved during their participation. Finally, close collaboration with a local institution, the Norwegian University System on Svalbard (UNIS), has not only been essential to the success of our program, but also highly rewarding. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/go/svalbard
ED32A-07
Web-Based Resources to Help Students and Faculty Prepare to use Information Technology in the Field
Teaching in the field is undergoing a revolution as new information technologies are being used to support a wide range of instructional activities in geology, oceanography, ecology, and related disciplines. In particular, the use of ruggedized laptop and palmtop computers with integrated GPS, GIS, data management, imaging and note-taking software presents a fundamentally new way to map and collect other data in the field. By bringing information technologies into the field, it is now possible to integrate many types of data such as digital elevation maps, air photo and satellite imagery, a variety of geophysical and geochemical databases (e.g. chemical anomaly maps, aeromagnetics, gravity). This allows students to engage much deeper levels of decision-making, problem-solving, and critical-thinking while still in the field setting. This technology also allows instructors to more closely monitor the progress of student projects in the field, and to assess the process as well as the products of student field work. For professional geologists, data acquisition and interpretation using digital technology in the field will rapidly become the industry standard, and now is the time to begin to prepare students to regularly use these new capabilities. To address the new possibilities of teaching with information technology in the field, a workshop was convened in February 2007 at Montana State University to aggregate and disseminate the practical advice and experience of geoscience instructors already using this technology. The outcome of this workshop is a website that contains advice on "best practices" in using these information technologies in field instruction including sections on: definition of learning goals, thinking skills and problem solving strategies, student and faculty preparation, selecting hardware and software, data resources, logistical consideration, GPS and learning, taking e-notes, mobile collaborations, and examples of field exercises. This website provides examples of how this technology creates better (or at least different) learning opportunities for students; identifies barriers so that interested novices can effectively acquire, use, and maintain information technologies in field instruction; provides "how to" advice on the design and implementation of learning exercises; creates a collection of teaching activities to be used as models for others to follow; and, compiles the experience and advice of current practitioners to help identify "best practices" in using this technology. This website should help to minimize the technical, pedagogical, and practical barriers that make it difficult for novice users to efficiently and effectively use this technology in field instruction. Material on the website was contributed and shared by the "GeoPad Writing Group". This project was supported by NSF grant EAR 03-06708. http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geopad/index.html
ED32A-08
Examples of Information Technology in Field-based Educational Settings
Over the last five years we have utilized ruggedized Tablet PCs and Pocket PCs in a variety of summer field courses at our Camp Davis Rocky Mountain Field Station, near Jackson, WY, as well as during departmental field trips. The courses involved range from upper-level field geology to lower-level introductory geology, as well as a mid-level environmental science course. During this period we gained a lot of experience with how to integrate information technology in field courses and field trips, as we experimented with a range of hardware and software combinations as well as different teaching approaches, some more successful than others. During much of this time we have also collaborated with external educational researchers to help us assess and understand the impact of this evolving approach to field-based instruction. Presented here are some example cases of how information technology can be used in the field for educational purposes, such as mapping projects in field courses, as a digital field notebook and reference library on field trips, and to support a mobile classroom while students are dispersed among vehicles or across a field area. We also present results from the educational evaluation of this work, which indicate that students see information technology as an important tool for their work, rather than as a novelty, and that it provides them with important visualization capabilities to enhance their understand that are not available with traditional paper mapping techniques. http://geopad.org