ED41A-01
Learning Science Process Through Data Exploration and Writing
Scientists choose problems for research, acquire and select data, ponder over the meaning of data, and argue for an interpretation in both oral and written form. They must be aware of prevailing theories of the phenomenon they are studying and critical evaluate the work of other researchers. Students in a large general education oceanography class engage in these activities with the support of a software environment that supports data analysis and acquisition, science writing, and peer review. For studies of plate tectonics, the EarthEd Online software system (http://earthednet.org/) allows students to quickly generate plots of data that can be used to support the theory of plate tectonics. The images are automatically uploaded to the student's image library, where they can be used in their writing assignments. An integrated graphic editor enables images to be annotated to emphasize important features. Writing is handed in electronically, where it can be accessed, commented on and graded by the instructor, or submitted for peer review using the "Calibrated Peer Review" method (see http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/ and http://earthednet.org/EEDMaterials/Index.htm). There is a significant body of literature that supports our approach to using science writing as an effective way to enhance science learning. Careful scaffolding of activities is required to ensure student success. The plate tectonics writing assignment asks students to acquire data to support the theory of plate tectonics at one or two specified plate boundaries. The first challenge students face is understanding and visualizing the motion of the plates at plate boundaries that is embodied in the theory of plate tectonics. Second, students must learn how topography, earthquake hypocenter locations, seafloor age, and volcano locations can be related to the plate boundary models. Third, they must struggle to create a scientific argument that clearly separates observations from interpretations, clearly describes the data and relationships between multiple data types, and then discusses the relationships between the observed data and the theoretical plate boundary models. While they are struggling with these concepts, they must also learn enough about the data acquisition and writing software system to use it effectively. Since a significant number of students wait until the last minute to begin assignments, small assignments must precede the actual writing assignment, so students can get the necessary skills that are difficult to master at the last minute. The plate tectonics writing assignment is supported by several activities. Classroom lecture and discussions of the data access software ("Our Dynamic Planet") illustrate the theory of plate tectonics and how to acquire and store data representations. In class "Questions of the Day" actively engage students in critical concepts and stimulate questions. Online homework assignments cover critical concepts and a two hour lab requires students to begin the use of the data access software to outline plate boundaries and decipher the meaning of the various data types. Small groups present their results to the entire lab class, again providing an opportunity for discussion and questions. Lecture, questions of the day, and in-class discussions address the construction of a scientific argument, annotation of figures, and general scientific writing issues.
http://earthednet.org/
ED41A-02
Integrating Research, Education, Outreach and Communication Through Storytelling: A Case Study in Progress
In order to provide a meaningful context for non-technical users to be able to decipher and comprehend research data, it is necessary to provide background into the process involved. Storytelling can provide the narrative description that brings data alive by showing the 'Who' (providing human interest, education and training background, and career opportunities information), 'What' (focusing on discipline, field of study, research questions, and significance), 'Where' (geographic location(s), logistics involved in getting there, and elevation or depth), 'When' (time(s) of day, year data collected, and temporal scale data focus on), 'Why' (why is the data important intellectually as well as in the broader, societal context) and especially the 'How' (what tools, technology, mathematics, and statistics are used to collect, archive, and analyze data). The upcoming International Polar Year (IPY), running from March 2007 to March 2009, builds on prior polar research and IPYs, and offers a unique opportunity to showcase the process of data collection and analysis in a compelling human context. Internationally, the IPY Education, Outreach and Communication (EOC) subcommittee is seeking to integrate the EOC continuum and when appropriate repurpose information about specific research projects. For example, descriptions of projects designed initially for media purposes may also serve as the �at a glance� overview of a project that can then link to more detailed narrative descriptions of the projects, augmented with video and audio clips, web-links to related background information and relevant curriculum, and ultimately to the data itself, well scaffolded with relevant supporting materials and tools. In the United States, plans are underway for developing a suite of data stories that provide the narrative background of a project and can be used in museum kiosks and other informal science settings, data sheets, that provide teachers with an overview of the data, and curriculum and training for teachers using the model developed by the Earth Exploration Toolkit.
ED41A-03 INVITED
Tools for Data Analysis in the Middle School Classroom: A Teacher Professional Development Program
In order for students to learn how to engage with scientific data to answer questions about the real world, it is imperative that their teachers are 1) comfortable with the data and the tools used to analyze it, and 2) feel prepared to support their students in this complex endeavor. TERC's Tools for Data Analysis in the Middle School Classroom (DataTools) professional development program, funded by NSF's ITEST program, prepares middle school teachers to integrate Web-based scientific data and analysis tools into their existing curricula. This 13- month program supports teachers in using a set of freely or commonly available tools with a wide range of data. It also gives them an opportunity to practice teaching these skills to students before teaching in their own classrooms. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the number of middle school students who work directly with scientific data, who use the tools of technology to import, manipulate, visualize and analyze the data, who come to understand the power of data-based arguments, and who will consider pursuing a career in technical and scientific fields. In this session, we will describe the elements of the DataTools program and the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet), a Web-based resource that supports Earth system education for teachers and students in grades 6 through 16. The EET provides essential support to DataTools teachers as they use it to learn to locate and download Web-based data and use data analysis tools. We will also share what we have learned during the first year of this three-year program.
http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/msdatatools
ED41A-04 INVITED
What can They do When we Give Them the Chance? Assessing the Impact of Data- Immersive Technology-Enabled Inquiry Projects on High School Students' Understanding of Geoscience
The report �Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences� (Manduca, Mogk, & Stillings, 2002) proposed a new program of research to invigorate and expand geoscience education. The report recommended integrating best practices in learning science with the distinctive challenges posed by using geoscience data sets and visualizations in inquiry activities (e.g., working with geologic time-referenced concepts, observing complex natural systems, using integrative and synthetic approaches). Geoscience educators are challenged with how to take advantage of publicly available data and visualization technology to build in their students deeper understanding of key Earth system phenomena and, at the same time, greater ability to identify and generate appropriate inquiry strategies. Their challenge is made greater by the fact that the ways in which geoscientists design research studies and represent, interpret, and analyze data vary widely with the disparate Earth system phenomena they study. Data for example, that permit analysis of the relationships between plate boundaries and earthquakes have quite different representational requirements than weather data that support analyses of climate change. The data's spatial and temporal characteristics are also critical determinants of representational requirements. How can students be led to appreciate what is knowable and not knowable by specific data sets, and how can they become better at taking the best possible advantages of whatever data are available to them as they formulate research questions and confront authentic problems? These are the questions we are addressing in our NSF-funded project, Data Sets and Inquiry in Geoscience Education. We are investigating what greater understandings of epistemically-appropriate geoscientifc inquiry high school students are capable of demonstrating when provided with the opportunity. To do this, we are designing and testing data-immersive project-based units that supplement existing geoscience curriculum programs. The units provide extended multi- day inquiry-based investigations centered on real geoscience data sets and data visualizations. The performance assessments provide evidence of geoscience knowledge and inquiry strategies seldom captured in traditional test formats. In the assessments, students apply the inquiry they practiced in the units to similar yet contrasting problems. We have chosen to focus on the highly-contrasting subjects of geology and climatology. In the geology unit, the students use a time-based simulation tool that provides three-dimensional data about earthquakes around the world in order to explore their relationship to the characteristics of plate boundaries in the Earth's crust. In the climatology unit, the students compare historical climate data about a particular city in relation to its state, to other communities in its state, and to North America in order to draw conclusions about the extent to which the characteristics of local climate change mirror what is happening elsewhere. They think critically about what can and cannot be known from the available data and conceptualize what would be a more ideal research study if sufficient resources were available. In our presentation, we will report on the progress we have made developing and pilot testing the units and assessments in high school classrooms. We will also report preliminary results and describe rubrics we have devised to assess the results.
ED41A-05 INVITED
DataSheets: Making Geoscience Data Easier to Find and Use
Faculty and teachers are enthusiastic about teaching with data. In workshop conversations they report that activities that explore data can effectively engage students interest in learning science. Data rich activites are seen as an effective mechanism for teaching scientific concepts and methods, quantitative skills and other higher order thinking skills. Data rich activites can help students learn to evaluate the validity of data and the strengh of conclusions. However, faculty and teachers indicate that finding the appropriate data is often a challenge and designing activities can be time consuming. To address these needs, we have developed, tested and piloted a new format, DataSheets, for sharing information about data sets, their use in teaching, and teaching materials that employ them. A DataSheet concisely describes a particular scientific data set in a way that is useful to educators interested in teaching with the data set. DataSheets highlight the connections between data sets and specific topics in science; they explicate how to acquire the data, and include links to scientific references and classroom activities that use the data. The format is designed to provide the information recognized as essential to educators by the DLESE Data Services Working Group in their recommendations regarding datasets that effectively support educational use. An initial collection of DataSheets, created through interviews with data providers is available at http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata/browse_sheets.html.
http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata
ED41A-06
A River Summer on the Hudson
River Summer is a month-long faculty development program extending from the continental shelf off New York City to the headwaters of the Hudson in the Adirondack Mountains. During the program, faculty from the Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities teach each other about the Hudson environment, using innovative methods of teaching and learning, with a focus on incorporation of hands-on approaches from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Over four weeks, faculty from research universities, community colleges, liberal arts institutions, and middle and high schools work and live together, on board a research vessel or in a remote tent campsite, for several days at a time. Using the geology, hydrology, and landscape of the River as a foundation, River Summer focuses on understanding development of the Hudson within the context of its natural resources and cultural history. Participants conduct field sampling and analyses and consider issues through approaches that are common to many disciplines: scaling for problem solving; sampling and assessing bias and representation; observing and documenting; representing and depicting; interpretation and assessing relationships and causality; and evaluation. They also get a chance to experience, first-hand, the complexity and often open-ended nature of doing science. By allowing individuals, many of whom come from non-science disciplines, to experience these methods and processes in a safe learning environment, science is made more meaningful and accessible. The program's pedagogy is based on the principles of cognitive psychology and immersive field-, place- and inquiry-based learning. Field programs have been found to provide memorable, transformative experiences for undergraduate students, and our experience with River Summer 2005 and 2006 suggests they are equally effective with faculty. Evaluation shows that River Summer has a significant impact on its participants. Participants develop new inter- institutional collaborations, and interdisciplinary pedagogical and research approaches that would otherwise never have happened. River Summer content and pedagogy are being used by participants to transform their teaching at their home institutions � in disciplines as diverse as anthropology, art history, biology, economics, engineering, geochemistry, political science, and writing. Using local resources and landscapes develops an understanding of the environment in which one works and lives, providing greater accessibility and deeper meaning. Proximity to the areas being studied also allows them to be developed into class field trips. The enthusiasm and energy that the project evokes suggests that the model developed for this program could be successfully implemented in other settings to promote interdisciplinary learning about the earth and its environment.
ED41A-07
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect Using Clear vs Cloudy Sky Diurnal Temperature Observations
Standard meteorological observations from local airports can provide a tangible example of how the greenhouse effect is a part of everyday life. In the exercise outlined here, students plot diurnal temperature observations to compare the relative magnitude of the greenhouse effect under clear and cloudy-sky conditions, gaining insight into the strength of the greenhouse effect. Contemplation of the relation of surface temperature and humidity with cloud cover leads to a further understading of important atmospheric processes involving the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and terrestrial and solar radiation effects.
ED41A-08
Secrets of the Sediments: Using Real Data to Explore Earth's Histories in the 5-12 Classroom
Using real data obtained by scientists is a powerful teaching tool. Teachers attending the 2-week School of Rock Expedition aboard the JOIDES Resolution in November 2005 had the opportunity to learn how Integrated Ocean Drilling Program scientists obtain cores from the ocean floor, study the cores, and use data collected from those cores to interpret Earth's dynamic history. The teachers and informal educators participating in School of Rock gained hands-on experience with data collected from 26 scientific ocean drilling research expeditions. The educators then created a wide spectrum of lessons using the data obtained from nearly four decades of scientific ocean drilling. These curricula include the use of oxygen isotopes to understand global climate change, using sonar and seismic data to map the eastern flank of the Juan De Fuca Ridge to better comprehend sea-floor spreading, and observing foraminifera to recognize the radical changes in biodiversity at the K/T boundary. The presenter will not only share experiences from the JOIDES Resolution, but how the knowledge gained has been translated into a series of lessons for the 5-12 classroom.
http://www.joilearning/schoolofrock