Cliff Jacobs:

The workshop began with a presentation by C. Jacobs (NSF) challenging the Unidata community to become a leader in science, engineering, and education in the 21st century. He predicted that the recommendations of four major reports (President's Information Technology Advisory Committee 1999; National Science Board 1999; National Research Council 1999; National Science Foundation 2000), and the growing importance of of the Internet for the global economy, will lead to an increase in funding for research and education in the geosciences and information technology. He argued that although the Unidata community already incorporates a diverse scientific community and state-of-the-art information and software tools, it has yet to discover its potential to contribute to the strategic goals of the NSF. In particular, the Unidata community must look beyond getting data into the classroom and provide: - the ideas that will set research and education agendas for the 21st century and discover the connections for their use in service of society; - a leadership role in preparing a diverse, internationally competitive 21st century workforce and well-educated citizens; - the innovation needed to develop broadly accessible, state-of-the-art information bases and shared research and education tools. References: President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, 1999: Information Technology Research: Investing in Our Future. Report to the President. February 24, 1999. [Available at http://www.ccic.gov/ac/report/pitac_report.pdf]. National Science Board, 1999: Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century: The Role of the National Science Foundation. NSB Task Force on the Environment-Interim Report-July 1999. NSB 99-133. 80 pp. [Available at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/tfe/nsb99133/start.htm]. National Science Foundation, 2000: NSF Geosciences Beyond 2000: Understanding and Predicting Earth's Environment and Habitability. In Press. National Research Council, 1999: Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability. National Academy Press, 384 pp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim Killeen:

The future of Geosciences education was then described in a talk given by T. Killeen (NCAR). He argued that interdisciplinary Earth System Science courses can revolutionize undergraduate general education, citing his experience developing global change curriculum at the University of Michigan (UM). He noted that students are naturally interested in the world around them, which motivates them to use science as a tool to think profoundly about global change issues. Killeen and other Michigan faculty members developed a general education global change minor that cultivates this natural interest and better equips students to contribute to debates concerning resource management, environmental impact, and social adaptation issues. Courses are team-taught with each lecture given by an expert who draws from his or her personal experiences. Electronic course materials allow for inquiry-based learning and simple models of earth system processes are developed for students to learn the importance and limitations of physical models. Course evaluations showed that, compared to single discipline courses with one instructor, students in the global change courses are challenged more to think, develop a deeper interest in the course material, and feel more empowered to act on their new knowledge. Killeen also provided some suggestions concerning future directions for the Unidata community. He described the Space Physics and Aeronomy Research Collaboratory, which designs and develops software that enables syncronous and asyncronous collaboration between scientists via the Internet. He also examined the need to advance internet usability and navigation for research and education, arguing that the time is ripe to develop a digital library for earth systems science education. He recommended that Unidata develop capabilities similar to those of SPARC which allow for scientific workshops and collaborations between scientists and students using a server-based approach. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Snow:

J. Snow (University of Oklahoma) gave a frank and honest overview of the challenges in teaching undergraduate introductory courses. He noted that most meteorology and earth sciences departments teach such courses, which feature which large enrollments (75+ students) of primarily first or second year non-science majors, and that the primary reason for teaching these courses is to boost student credit hours. After asking the audience if such courses provide a valuable student learning experience, he argued that, with the exception of a few cases with an exceptional instructor and/or the right mix of students, usually the learning in these courses is minimal. Snow then asked why do we offer these classes and are there alternatives? He noted that in many cases there are good reasons to teach introductory courses, such as meeting the academic mission of the University, introducing students to scientific approaches, and recruiting. On the other hand, he argued that their are alternatives and hypothesized that in many cases the key problem is that the target audience is too generic. Many academic units might find it more rewarding to target a narrower audience such as pre-service teachers, business majors, or related science majors. Other possibilities include forming alliances with other departments to develop Earth Systems Science modules. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

T. Whittaker

T. Whittaker (University of Wisconsin-Madison) led an instructional lab introducing workshop participants to Java Applets that allow for inquiry-based student learning. Participants used Applets that were developed to allow students to learn about topics such as the effective temperature of planets, map analysis, and force balances (see http://ProfHorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise for examples). Whitaker also showed participants how to run QuizImage (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/QuizImage), a Java software tool developed at the University of Wisconsin to enable instructors to create visual-identification quizzes for students. Participants found the package easy to use and quickly developed discovery-mode lessons for teaching satellite interpretation. ----------------------------------------------------------------

S. Ackerman

S. Ackerman (University of Wisconsin-Madison) provided a talk examining what it takes to effectively use the world wide web for education, with an emphasis on introductory undergraduate courses. He argued that the web can make teaching more effective if it is used to augment traditional resources. If improperly used, the web can make teaching less effective and more time consuming. For example, adding course notes to a web page can take considerable effort, but adds little if any to the learning experience. Instead, he has worked to develop on-line, inquiry-based, interactive teaching modules and self-assessment tests that allow students to be active participants in the learning process. -----------------------------------------------------------------