Abstract
The Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth Science for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) course “Critical Zone Science” (CZS) teaches undergraduate students about the services and resources provided by the critical zone (CZ), Earth’s terrestrial layer that extends from the top of vegetation to unweathered bedrock. The course was developed through the InTeGrate program, which aims to improve undergraduate geosciences education by teaching earth science within the context of societal grand challenges. CZ science provides a valuable transdisciplinary framework through which students learn the nature and methods of geosciences and apply systems thinking as they investigate grand challenges facing society. Using a CZ approach to learn about Earth systems and the services provided by the CZ has the potential to deeply engage students and develop skills necessary to consider how we can achieve environmental sustainability. While teaching the CZS course, instructors employ active learning pedagogical practices using authentic data and current research from the National Science Foundation CZ Observatory program. The CZS course was piloted across a range of institutions and most recently at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), a large, 4-year public and primarily nonresidential campus. Here we present a case study of implementing the course into UNO’s undergraduate curriculum, including strategies and challenges of delivering the course, and describe additional attempts to assess course outcomes, including a new summative assessment tool. Assessment data from pilot courses and the most recent UNO course offering show that students leave the course with a high interest level in earth science and sustainability and the ability to apply complex thinking skills, but additional assessment tools are needed to more effectively assess the ways in which these materials impact student learning and critical thinking skills.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Banwart S, Chorover J, Gaillardet J, Sparks D, White T, Anderson S, Aufdenkampe A, Bernasconi S, Brantley S, Chadwick O, Dietrich W, Duffy C, Goldhaber M, Lehnert K, Niolaidis N, Ragnarsdottir K (2013) Sustaining Earth’s critical zone: basic science and interdisciplinary solutions for global challenges. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, p 48
Brantley S, Goldhaber M, Ragnarsdottir K (2007) Crossing disciplines and scales to understand the critical zone. Elements 3:307–314
Caulkins J, Steer D, Iverson E, Manduca C, Savina M, Awad A (2014) Student learning in geoscience courses incorporating societal issues and grand challenges facing society. GSA Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, 46:50
Cole K, Inada M, Smith A, Haaf M (2013) Implementing a grant proposal writing exercise in undergraduate science courses: to incorporate real-world applications and critical analysis of current literature. J Chem Educ 90:1316–1319
CZEN (2018) Critical zone exploration network. http://www.czen.org. Accessed 12 Aug 2018
CZO (2018) Critical zone observatories annual findings banner image, Credit: Jenny Parks Illustration/SSCZO, http://criticalzone.org/national/research/annual-findings-1national/, High res version at http://criticalzone.org/images/national/photos-and-images/1National/CZbanner.jpg. Accessed 13 Aug 2018
Field J, Breshears D, Law D, Villegas J, Lopez-Hoffman L, Brooks P, Chorover J, Varron-Gafford G, Gallery R, Litvak M, Lybrand R, McIntosh J, Meixner T, Niu G, Papuga S, Pelletier J, Rasmussen C, Troch P (2015) Critical zone services: expanding context, constraints, and currency beyond ecosystem services. Vadose Zone J 14. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2014.10.0142
Freeman S, Eddy SL, McDonough M, Smith MK, Okoroafor N, Jordt H, Wenderoth MP (2014) Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:8410–8415
Gosselin D, Burian S, Lutz T, Maxson J (2016) Integrating geoscience into undergraduate education about environment, society, and sustainability using place-based learning: three examples. J Environ Stud Sci 6:1–10
Grabinger R, Dunlap J (1995) Rich environments for active learning: a definition. Res Learn Technol 3:5–34
Guilford WH (2001) Teaching peer review and the process of scientific writing. Adv Physiol Educ 25:167–175
Holder L, Scherer H, Herbert B (2017) Student learning of complex Earth systems: a model to guide development of student expertise in problem-solving. J Geosci Educ 65:490–505
Hooke R, Martin-Duque J, Pedraza J (2012) Land transformation by humans: a review. GSA Today 22:4–10
InTeGrate (2018a) Critical zone science instructor stories. https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/critical_zone/instructor_stories.html. Accessed 12 Aug 2018
InTeGrate (2018b) The InTeGrate Attitudinal Instrument (IAI). https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/about/iai.html. Accessed 9 Mar 2018
InTeGrate (2018c) Geoscience literacy exam (GLE). https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/about/gle.html. Accessed 9 Mar 2018
InTeGrate (2018d) Essay assessments: interdisciplinary and systems thinking. https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/about/essays.html. Accessed 9 Mar 2018
Iverson ER, Steer D, Gilbert LA, Kastens KA, O’Connell K, Manduca CA (2018) Measuring literacy, attitudes, and capacities to solve societal problems. In: Gosselin DC, Egger AE, Taber JJ (eds) Interdisciplinary teaching about Earth and the environment for a sustainable future, AESS interdisciplinary environmental studies and sciences series. Springer, Berlin
Kansas State University (2017) Assessment toolkit. http://www.k-state.edu/assessment/toolkit/measurement/resrubric.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug 2018
Kastens K (2016) The InTeGrate attitudinal instrument (AI). SERC, Carlton College, Northfield
Kastens K, Krumhansl R (2017) Identifying curriculum design patterns as a strategy for focusing geoscience education research: a proof of concept based on teaching and learning with geoscience data. J Geosci Educ 65:373–392
Kastens K, Manduca C (2017) Using systems thinking in the design, implementation, and evaluation of complex educational innovations, with examples from the InTeGrate project. J Geosci Educ 65:219–230
Kober N (2015) Reaching students: what research says about effective instruction in undergraduate science and engineering. National Academies Press, Washington, DC, p 56
Office of Institutional Effectiveness, UNO (2016) Enrollment Report Fall 2016. Enrollment Reports. Paper 74. Available at: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/oieenrollment/74. Accessed 26 Jan 2018
Scherer H, Holder L, Herbert B (2017) Student learning of complex Earth systems: conceptual frameworks of Earth systems and instructional design. J Geosci Educ 65:473–489
Steer D, Iverson ER, Egger AE, Kastens KA, Manduca CA, McConnell DA (2018) The InTeGrate materials development rubric: a framework and process for developing curricular materials that meet ambitious goals. In: Gosselin DC, Egger AE, Taber JJ (eds) Interdisciplinary teaching about Earth and the environment for a sustainable future, AESS interdisciplinary environmental studies and sciences series. Springer, Berlin
White T, Brantley S, Banwart S, Chorover J, Dietrich W, Derry L, Lohse K, Anderson S, Aufdendkampe A, Bales R, Kumar P, Richter D, McDowell W (2015) The role of critical zone observatories in critical zone science. Develop Earth Surf Process 19:15–78
White T, Wymore A, Dere A, Hoffman A, Washburne J, Conklin M, Gill S (2017a) Critical zone science. Available at https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/critical_zone/index.html. Accessed 24 July 2018
White T, Wymore A, Dere A, Hoffman A, Washburne J, Conklin M (2017b) Integrated interdisciplinary science of the critical zone as a foundational curriculum for addressing issues of environmental sustainability. J Geosci Educ 65:136–145
Zoback M (2001) Grand challenges in Earth and environmental sciences: science, stewardship, and service for the twenty-first century. GSA Today 11:41–47
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dere, A. et al. (2019). Implementing and Assessing InTeGrate Critical Zone Science Materials in an Undergraduate Geoscience Program. In: Gosselin, D., Egger, A., Taber, J. (eds) Interdisciplinary Teaching About Earth and the Environment for a Sustainable Future. AESS Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03273-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03273-9_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03272-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03273-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)