Get WET Observatory: Implementing a Fluid Learning Experience for Undergraduates

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Geology (42)The Get WET (GroundWater Education and Teaching) Observatory is enhancing undergraduate geology courses for majors and non-majors by providing hands-on, field-based learning opportunities in surface and groundwater processes. The Observatory consists of six groundwater-monitoring wells adjacent to a perennial stream on campus property. The wells augment two existing groundwater irrigation wells and a surface monitoring station thus providing spatially diverse surface and groundwater coverage at the Observatory. The Observatory is directly affecting approximately 500 majors and non-majors per year, with new learning materials being developed within six courses utilizing the Get WET facility. Introductory geology laboratories of no more than 15 students, working in teams of three or four, provide small group learning and discussion opportunities. Student learning in the Introductory Geology Laboratory is being evaluated through pre- and post-assessments of student conceptions regarding groundwater processes. The Observatory is also being integrated into the four-year major and is enhancing student learning of the complexities of surface and groundwater interactions and subsurface geophysics.Public dissemination of the educational data set is greatly increasing the utility of the Observatory beyond its physical boundary on the CSU campus. Collaboration between three departments and a research and outreach center is building a community of scholars versed in teaching groundwater-related subjects.Outreach initiatives associated with the Observatory include collaborating with local middle and high school science teachers, conducting two teacher education workshops training teachers in surface and groundwater interactions, developing field exercises for middle and high school students, and providing TA support for instructional assistance.