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Incorporating Data and Research into Courses

Learn to create scientifically literate students who think critically & adapt to unforeseen circumstances using scientific techniques. Incorporate data & research into courses to foster student exploration of questions. Additional goals include understanding data imperfections & gaining ownership of interpretations. Techniques include web data usage, field & lab work, and enabling research experiment executions. Examples cover online ocean and field air quality data for practical application.

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Incorporating Data and Research into Courses

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  1. Preparing for an Academic Career in Geosciences Workshop Incorporating Data and Research into Courses • Ellen E. Martin, University of Florida • Wayne Powell, Brooklyn College

  2. Rational • Create scientifically literate students • Future citizens, teachers, voters, politicians, business associates… • Teach students to think like scientists • Beyond simplified “textbook” content • Apply scientific techniques and content • Think critically • Welcome the unexpected

  3. Goals • Students learn • To evaluate data critically • To observe patterns and anomalies • To make inferences and predictions • To make interpretations • To form testable hypotheses • To adapt to unforeseen circumstances Students explore the question rather than the answer

  4. Additional Goals • Students: • Learn not all data are as perfect as textbook examples • Discover there are multiple ways to interpret the same data • Gain ownership of ideas and interpretations • Discover some of the difficulties associated with data collection

  5. Techniques • Use data available on the web • Create opportunities for them to collect and interpret their own data • Field work • Lab work • Allow them to design and execute a research experiment

  6. Example 1: Online DataOcean Circulation NOAA’s Oceanographic In-Situ Data Access • CDT (conductivity, temperature, depth) data • http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/ewb/ NOAA’s Live Access to Climate Data • map views and cross sections of a range of variables for a range of depths • http://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov

  7. Ocean Circulation Surface temperature Temperature 3000 m Surface salinity

  8. Ocean Circulation Classic textbook Pacific high latitude Atlantic low latitude

  9. Temp Salinity Oxygen Phosphate

  10. Ocean Circulation Questions • Pick out areas of anomalous temperature • Where do deep waters acquire their temperature and salinity? • What controls density? • Identify a salinity anomaly, come up with a theory for what might cause the anomaly and how you might test it • What is the relationship between oxygen and phosphate in the ocean? …

  11. Example 2: Field DataBrooklyn Air Quality • What is suspended in the air we breathe on our urban campus? • Is there any justifiable concern?

  12. Motivations and Advantages • Community-based • Personal impact • Simple procedures • Relatively inexpensive equipment • No travel required

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