Initial Publication Date: June 19, 2015

517A. Teaching Geoscience in Society: Building Relevance and Interest in the Geosciences by Adding InTeGrate Resources to Your Class

Co-sponsored by NAGT and the Geoscience Education Division of GSA

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 8:00 am to noon
 Part of the GSA Short Course 4-Pack

Location: Harbour Centre, Boardroom 2280, Simon Fraser University
Instructors: Anne Egger, Central Washington University; Rachel Teasdale, California State University-Chico

Registration Details

This half-day workshop is part of the GSA Short Course 4-Pack. For $50, select any two workshops from the four (add 517C or 517D). Early registration ends on September 15. To sign up for a workshop, use the GSA meeting registration. See all GSA workshops.

Workshop description

What can we do to reframe the geosciences in ways that engage our students in our classes? How do we prepare these students for a future where they will confront climate change, water availability issues, resource depletion and other grand challenges that will require a robust understanding of the intersection between the geosciences and society? One key strategy is to incorporate these issues into geoscience teaching at all levels and for all students. InTeGrate has developed a set of community-built modules that directly address Earth-related grand challenges. These modular units can be adopted wholesale or in parts and each feature resources to develop students' abilities to address interdisciplinary problems, improve geoscientific thinking skills, make use of authentic geoscience data, and incorporate systems thinking. These materials have been developed and tested by faculty at a variety of types of institutions and come with built in assessments and resources for both instructors and students. Topics range from environmental justice and freshwater resources to climate change, mineral resources, sustainable land use and natural hazards. In this workshop, we will explore the InTeGrate materials, discuss the underlying design rubric, and work with participants to adapt the materials to their institutional and geographic setting.

Before you go

Please plan on bringing your laptop.

Workshop program

8:00 am Introductions and Ice breaker:

  • Describe the teaching venue you want to work on today (course type, institution type)
  • Introduce yourselves and the relevant societal issues that pertain to Earth science for your community
  • Name a geoscience topic that you teach in that course that is related to that societal issue

8:15 am Presentation:

  • Living on the Edge: Rachel
  • Overview (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 1.6MB Oct17 14) of InTeGrate materials development process: Anne

9:15 am Individual exploration of the modules

9:45 am Break

10:00 am Small group work: Work in teams of 3-ish to talk about how to adapt a particular module to your venue

10:30 am Report out from small group: Perceived challenges to adoption, needs, what will be easy

10:45 am Individual work: Develop your InTeGrate Materials Action Plan

11:15 am Report out from individual work: how are you planning on adapting which module in your setting?

11:30 am Workshop Synthesis and workshop evaluation

  • Which societal issues would be of interest to you in future modules?
  • Which geoscience topics need to be better framed in terms of societal issues?
  • What skills need to be incorporated into modules (quantitative, writing, etc.)?

InTeGrate Reception at GSA

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 7:00-8:30 pm Hyatt Regency Stanley Room Appetizers and cash bar provided

Please join us for the InTeGrate reception, where you can meet more InTeGrate authors, assessment team members, and the leadership team. Authors and team members who will be present include:

  • Laurel Goodell (Living on the Edge)
  • Scott Linneman (Exploring Geoscience Methods)
  • Aida Awad (assessment team)
  • Josh Galster (Humans' Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources)
  • Joshua Villalobos (Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources)
  • Sarah Fortner (A Growing Concern)
  • Joy Branlund (Humans' Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources)
  • Cynthia Fadem (Climate of Change)

Resources

  • Activities of interest at GSA
    This page has links to workshops and sessions of interest to the InTeGrate community.
  • InTeGrate
    InTeGrate is funded by a 5-year STEP Center grant from the National Science Foundation. The program supports the teaching of geoscience in the context of societal issues both within geoscience courses and across the undergraduate curriculum. Our goal is to develop a citizenry and workforce that can address environmental and resource issues facing our society.
  • Sign up to get updates from InTeGrate and find out other ways to Get involved
  • Teaching Introductory Geoscience Courses
    This suite of web pages includes resources for teaching large classes, working with TAs, and making strategic changes to your teaching, as well as activity and course descriptions.