Taxonomy term

education

Place-based education: Teaching geoscience in the context of location and culture

Place-based geoscience education integrates scientific and cultural knowledge of local landscapes, environments and communities with an awareness of the different meanings that place can hold for people of various cultural backgrounds. It’s a “new old” method of teaching that is experiencing a resurgence.
06 Aug 2018

Fieldwork among the pixels: Virtual and augmented reality diversify geoscience education

Students going out into the field to gain hands-on experience and mapping skills is a time-honored tradition in geology. Now, teachers are using virtual and augmented reality technology to bring the field to the students.
23 May 2018

Comment: Making the first (and last) geoscience class count

An introductory geoscience course may be the only earth science class many people ever take, and the only chance geoscientists have to help students develop the scientific understanding they will need to make decisions about the grand challenges humanity will face in the future.
18 Dec 2017

Down to Earth With: Mountain biking geologist Kurt Refsnider

Growing up in Minnesota, Kurt Refsnider spent a lot of time exploring old clay and limestone quarries along the Minnesota River, where he collected marine fossils. While on a camping trip with his family at age 8, he visited the Burgess Shale in Banff, Canada, and learned about the exquisitely preserved soft-body fossils of Precambrian marine fauna. The experience initially made him want to become a paleontologist. But as he grew up, the glacial landscapes of the upper Midwest drew his attention and he decided to study geology instead.

09 Feb 2017

Comment: High school earth and space science should be taught by geoscientists

It may seem to be common sense to assume that earth and space science topics such as climate change are taught by qualified teachers, but unfortunately, this is not the case in every state. 

17 Jan 2017

Benchmarks: April 22, 1995: GLOBE is launched

Studying the global environment requires collecting numerous detailed observations. And although it may seem today like we’re awash in such data, relevant observations — collected at the right time and place — are often unavailable. For example, scientists studying precipitation must rely on just a handful of sampling stations: All of the world’s raingages gathered together would only cover an area the size of two basketball courts.

22 Apr 2016

Urban geology: An emerging discipline in an increasingly urbanized world

Urban geology — the geology just outside, or perhaps under, our front doors — should be recognized as its own specialty. After all, its applications impact more than half of the global population.

21 Feb 2016

Geologic Column: Decades later, Mr. Keene's earth science class sticks with me

The author's 1959 earth science class changed her life, despite not starting out as well as she would have hoped. 
13 Jan 2016

When science meets film at MIT

Across the Internet, science shows abound, such as “Crash Course,” “The Brain Scoop” and “Vsauce.” A good educational video is like watching a professional ballerina — if the dance is done well, it looks effortless. Of course, neither ballet nor film is actually easy, especially when the medium is meant to carry a message. A new class at MIT is helping students break down the steps and twirls of video and having them choreograph their own short educational films — with the goal of teaching them to better communicate, and deepen their own sense of the science, by explaining complex ideas like the Big Bang, the architecture of the Wheatstone Bridge or the chemistry of bread.

13 Dec 2014

On the Web: Ka-pow! Superhero short films get kids thinking about climate change

The Green Ninja may sound like a spin-off of the “Power Rangers,” the live-action children’s television series featuring color-coded superheroes. But there’s a little less punch and a lot more thought going into this YouTube science show for kids.

10 Jul 2014

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