Incorporating Data and Research into Courses

Ellen E. Martin, University of Florida

Wayne Powell, Brooklyn College

Preparing for an Academic Career in Geosciences Workshop

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

• 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

Goals

Students explore the question rather than the answer

• 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

Additional Goals

• 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

Techniques

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

Example 1: Online DataOcean Circulation

Ocean CirculationSurface temperature

Temperature 3000 m

Surface salinity

Ocean Circulation

Classic textbook

Pacifichigh latitude

Atlanticlow latitude

Temp Salinity

Oxygen Phosphate

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?

…

• What is suspended in the air we breathe on our urban campus?

• Is there any justifiable concern?

Example 2: Field DataBrooklyn Air Quality

Motivations and Advantages

• Community-based• Personal impact

• Simple procedures• Relatively

inexpensive equipment

• No travel required