Earth and Ocean Sciences

SEI Director: Francis Jones, Sara Harris (on leave)
STLFs: Brett Gilley, Erin Lane (emeritus), Joshua Caulkins (emeritus), Ben Kennedy (emeritus)
Faculty (instructors teaching targeted courses): S. Allen, G. Andrews, R. Beckie, M.L. Bevier, M. Bostock, G. Dipple, E. Eberhardt, J. Finnis, R. Francois, M. Grey, S. Harris, F. Herrmann, K. Hickey, W. Hsieh, M. Jellinek, C. Johnson, M. Kopylova, M. Maldonado, U. Mayer, S. Mills, R. Mindell, J. Mortensen, K. Orians, R. Pawlowicz, J. Scoates, P. Smith, R. Stull, S. Sutherland
Faculty (others involved in working groups, committees, or ad-hoc support): P. Austin, M. Bustin, K. Grimm, L. Groat, P. Hammer, E. Hearn, O. Hungr, T. Ivanochko, M. Lipsen, J. Monteux, D. Oldenburg, K. Russell, D. Steyn, C. Suttle, P. Tortell, L. Ver, D. Weis, D. Winget
Students: L. Bailey, L. Beranek, J-F. Blanchette-Guertin, A. Caruthers, D. Cassis, J. Dohaney, R. Eso, L. Gurney, M. Halverson, S. Henderson, T. Hirsche, K. Hodge, A. Jolley, K. Ko, P. Lelievre, C. Leslie, C. Livingstone, K. Lucas, J. Mcalister, K. Rasmussen, J. Rhajiak, E. Schaeffer, B. Smithyman, K. Smet, R. Taylor, D. Tomkins, D. Tommasi, C. Wong

Overview:

PDF Poster (April 2009): EOS-SEI Long-Term Plan, Metadata and Faculty Survey - Sara Harris

The Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative in Earth and Ocean Sciences will touch all aspects of undergraduate teaching and learning in this department.  Our undergraduates include those headed for careers in science and many for whom our department is their only encounter with science during their university years.  We aim to provide the best opportunities for both these groups to practice scientific thinking and to incorporate scientific skills into their lives, regardless of their career path.  At the curriculum level, we are developing plans for a “Curriculum Matrix” which will explicitly identify links in learning goals among courses, help us identify and remedy gaps, overlaps, and bottlenecks, and serve as a dynamic roadmap for future curriculum evolution.  At the course level, we’re targeting specific courses for attention and will work our way through EOS’ curriculum, aiming to involve as many faculty members as possible.  Revisions will be planned by course-specific “Working Groups”, which involve not only primary instructors but also those who teach peripheral courses (pre-, post-, and co-requisites).  We will be developing and using instruments to assess student achievement of learning goals and also their attitudes about science.  Our graduate students will be involved as an integral part of the undergraduate teaching and learning effort and we are developing a new TA training program to better meet the needs of grad students, undergraduates, and faculty. 

As of June 2010, the EOS-SEI program is making excellent progress with 19 courses currently at various stages of transformation and more than 10 additional courses “unofficially” being improved using the principles of research-based effective pedagogy. Over 60% of EOS faculty are involved in the SEI in some capacity (committees, working groups and/or making changes to their courses). The overarching goal of the EOS-SEI is to promote cultural change in our approach to teaching and learning and establish sustainable processes to continue and improve the work accomplished during the CWSEI project.

Goals:

  • Promote student achievement of the following learning outcomes.
    • Develop skills for making reasoned judgments based on scientific evidence and organized knowledge.
    • Enhance the ability to transfer knowledge, skills and concepts to new situations or contexts, for professional, academic, or general societal purposes.
    • Develop the ability to assess and remedy one's own understanding.
    • Achieve an appropriate balance between breadth and depth of knowledge, in order to recognize and express linkages among systems and concepts.
    • Explore the interacting frameworks of economic development and environmental stewardship in the richly multi-disciplinary context of earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences

  • Expand and coordinate our efforts in the following areas as a department:
    • Increase teaching effectiveness and efficiency in our undergraduate courses and programs.
    • Raise university-wide levels of scientific literacy and global awareness.
    • Emphasize contemporary thought and new directions in science and science education.
    • Enable, facilitate, and support faculty and TAs to follow best practices for achieving departmental teaching and learning goals while retaining ownership of their courses.

A copy of our submitted proposal is available here: EOS proposal .