Transcript Teaching small lab/field-based classes

“WHAT WORKS AND WHY?”
TEACHING SMALL LAB/(FIELD-BASED)
CLASSES
ERIC LEONARD
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY
COLORADO COLLEGE
COURSE “DECISIONS”
1) LEVEL/PREREQUISITES -- 200-Level class with Introductory
Geology or Introduction to the Earth System prerequisite
COURSE “DECISIONS”
1) LEVEL/PREREQUISITES -- 200-Level class with Introductory
Geology or Introduction to the Earth System prerequisite
2) FOCUS -- Operation of the climate system, record and causes of
naturally occurring climate change
COURSE DECISIONS
1) LEVEL/PREREQUISITES -- 200-Level class with Introductory
Geology or Introduction to the Earth System prerequisite
2) FOCUS -- Operation of the climate system, record and causes of
naturally occurring climate change
3) PEDAGOGY -- “Interactive” lectures, sequence of labs, student
presentations, class discussion
COURSE GOALS
1) Provide science majors with an understanding of the record and causes
of naturally occurring climate change, as part of their broader science
education.
2) Provide both science and non-science majors with an understanding of
how the climate system operates and changes due to natural forcing, as a
basis for understanding anthropogenic changes.
COURSE GOALS
1) Provide science majors with an understanding of the record and causes
of naturally occurring climate change, as part of their broader science
education.
2) Provide both science and non-science majors with an understanding of
how the climate system operates and changes due to natural forcing, as a
basis for understanding anthropogenic changes.
3) Provide students with hands-on experience of collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data related to climate change.
COURSE GOALS
1) Provide science majors with an understanding of the record and causes
of naturally occurring climate change, as part of their broader science
education.
2) Provide both science and non-science majors with an understanding of
how the climate system operates and changes due to natural forcing, as a
basis for understanding anthropogenic changes.
3) Provide students with hands-on experience of collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data related to climate change.
4) Introduce students to critical reading of current climate-change
literature.
COURSE GOALS
1) Provide science majors with an understanding of the record and causes
of naturally occurring climate change, as part of their broader science
education.
2) Provide both science and non-science majors with an understanding of
how the climate system operates and changes due to natural forcing, as a
basis for understanding anthropogenic changes.
3) Provide students with hands-on experience of collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data related to climate change.
4) Introduce students to critical reading of current climate-change
literature.
5) Highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the field.
LAB PROJECTS
THE PRACTICE OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENCE
1) DATA COLLECTION -- Crowfoot Glacier History,
Representativeness of the macrofossil record
LAB PROJECTS
THE PRACTICE OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENCE
1) DATA COLLECTION -- Crowfoot Glacier History,
Representativeness of the macrofossil record
2) ANALYSIS OF “RAW” DATA -- LDGO Vostok core lab
LAB PROJECTS
THE PRACTICE OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENCE
1) DATA COLLECTION -- Crowfoot Glacier History,
Representativeness of the macrofossil record
2) ANALYSIS OF “RAW” DATA -- LDGO Vostok core lab
3) ITERPRETATION/IMPLICATIONS OF “FINISHED”DATA -- Past,
present, and future climate maps of the Rocky Mountain region
LAB PROJECTS
THE PRACTICE OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENCE
1) DATA COLLECTION -- Crowfoot Glacier History,
Representativeness of the macrofossil record
2) ANALYSIS OF “RAW” DATA -- LDGO Vostok core lab
3) ITERPRETATION/IMPLICATIONS OF “FINISHED”DATA -- Past,
present, and future climate maps of the Rocky Mountain region
4) FINAL GROUP PROJECTS -- Data analysis and interpretation (not
collection), on topic selected by group
SUMMARY
1) Prerequisites help -- even for an introductory course
2) A fairly narrow focus allows a more in-depth course. It is difficult to
cover the whole field and choices of focus are necessary. This may be
a particular problem under the Colorado College Block Plan.
3) Hands-on work (lab/field) is very important. We try to cover the the
whole sequence from data collection, through data analysis, through
data interpretation.
4)There is a need to weave together hands-on work with more contentdriven approaches (“interactive” lectures, reading).