HR: 10:20h
AN: ED42A-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Teaching from Data -- Climate Labs at Columbia and Barnard
AU: * Pfirman, S
EM: spfirman@barnard.edu
AF: Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
AU: Hays, J D
EM: jimhays@ldeo.columbia.edu
AF: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, P.O. Box 1000 61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964, United States
AB: Since 1995 Columbia and Barnard have offered Earth's Environmental Systems: Climate to undergraduate environmental majors. Both lecture and laboratory resources are available on line. In collaboration with Lamont- Doherty Earth Observatory, the twelve labs engage students in exploring global databases to learn about earth processes. Evaluations of the course as well as exit surveys of senior majors, indicate that the laboratories help students learn how to extract meaning from data and to better understand the research experience. Using classical data such as the Mauna Loa carbon dioxide concentrations, the Vostok record, the atmospheric Earth Radiation Budget Experience, and the Levitus World Ocean Atlas, the laboratories are designed with both structured exercises and open-ended questions. For example, the "Modern Atmospheric CO2 Record" lab has students compare the Mauna Loa data with records from the South Pole and Barrow, and then examine seasonal variations in global primary productivity to understand seasonal and interhemispheric differences. This information is then set in the context of projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Development of the Earth Environmental Systems sequence (Climate, Solid Earth, and Life) was supported by NSF and Columbia to establish a firm foundation for environmental majors. The Climate course is taught both fall and spring semesters by a team of professors. Challenges over the years include consistently augmenting the computer-based labs with hands-on elements, and student difficulty in writing lab reports when the lab is open-ended.
UR: http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/climate/
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting