Isiorho's paper Presented GSA May 19, 2005Isiorho's paper Presented GSA May 19, 2005

Universities involvement Universities involvement of undergraduates of undergraduates

in surface and groundwater in surface and groundwater research projectsresearch projects

Isiorho, S. A. (PhD)Isiorho, S. A. (PhD)(Professor of Geosciences)(Professor of Geosciences)

Indiana University – Purdue University Ft. Wayne (IPFW) Indiana University – Purdue University Ft. Wayne (IPFW) Fort Wayne, IN 46805 USAFort Wayne, IN 46805 USA

isiorho@ipfw.eduisiorho@ipfw.edu Presented at the Int. Conference on Infrastructure Development and the Environment (ICIDEN-ABUJA 2006) Sept. 10-15, 2006

Talk Outline• Introduction• Teaching levels • Approach• Incentives & Requirement• Student projects• Highlighted Projects• Summary & Conclusions

Teaching Levels (TLs) in ascending order Samuelowicz & Bain (1992)

. *Impart information…teacher centered

. **Transmit knowledge…develop competence…skills and conceptual abilities

. ***Facilitate understanding … to understand subject matter … apply . ****Change students’ conceptions … reality … different knowledge …

develop conceptual framework …same level , and

. *****Support student learning…student centered…more at graduate level

TLs can be used to gauge faculty effectiveness in engaging undergraduates…most faculties are at the first two levels (Akerson et al, 2005).

Getting faculty to be at or near the upper level would require that faculty review and change their teaching methods, injecting some research based or service learning into the curriculum.

How do we get there?

• Service learning is common in the social sciences but rare in the sciences, particularly in the geosciences (Liu et al., 2004). The aim is to foster student interest in earth sciences, enhance university/college outreach, students’ ability to learn and encourage student-centered and team work learning (Liu et. al., 2004).

• Service learning usually involves students, the community, linking field and laboratory studies...

Approach

• Undergraduates…more than grad students

• Geosciences courses….• Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology, Wetlands, Environmental

Conservation… usually upper level courses

• Modify upper level courses to include some research project component

Incentives & Requirement

• *Required in all upper level courses (30-50% course grade)

• Flexibility of topic…selected by students …subject to instructor’s approval

• Students are required to present their findings to their peers (using Power Point)

• “Optional” students presentation in local, regional or national meetings (if project is deemed appropriate).

• Travel fund for outside campus presentation

Some Students’ Projects• Time Series Analysis• Effect of Bag type & Size on seepage*• Anthropogenic effect on nearby

wetland• Use of Wetland for removal of

pollutants• Wetland a topic for interdisciplinary

discussions• Pesticides pollution within St. Joseph

Watershed• Monitoring and implication for water

related problem• Effects of quarry operations on landfill

hydrogeology• Relationship between Bowman lake

and groundwater• Relationship between Lake Chad and

underlying aquifers*• Heavy metal analysis of the LN ditch,

Allen County, IN

Highlighted Projects• Relationship between Lake Chad and the

underlying aquifers

• Effect of Bag type & Size on seepage

Lake Chad Project

• Resistivity sounding & profiling• Depth to groundwater measurement• Water chemistry• Remote sensing• Interaction with Earthwatch volunteers• Published in Ground Water 1996 Vol. 34 No. 4, p 819-826• Cited in Bulletin of the Geological Society of America Bulletin,

Biogeochemistry, and J. of Environmental Management.

Effect of Bag type and Size on Seepage

• Lab experimentation using different seepage meter sizes and bag types• No significance between bag types• Would recommend using large seepage meters to minimize variations• Published in Ground Water vol. 37(3) p 411-413,1999

– Cited by 7 authors in 4 Int. journals…J. Hydrology, Groundwater, Water resources & Limnology & Oceanography

http://www.geo.sunysb.edu/lig/Conferences/Abstracts99/O'Rourke/O'Rourke_MS.htm

Benefits

• Students• Learn methods, use of instruments, develop

ideas, design, collect, analyze, report, & get published…

• Uni-Maid students…network• Faculty gets rewarded• Support student learning ...the highest TL

Summary & Conclusions

• Make research project a part of upper level courses… leads to support of student learning

• Involving undergraduates in research projects introduces them to scientific methods, real world learning, provides teaching materials for instructors, and getting published too.

• Undergraduates can help to solve environmental problems when given the opportunity

• It’s a win-win situation for students, instructors, and society