Innovative use of environmental measurements in undergraduate geographic education

地质学(42)当学生通过提出假设、设计实验、收集和分析数据以及解释结果而积极参与时，地理教育是最有效的。我们正在用部署在沿海平原、南向坡度、东西走向范围的顶端、北向坡度和雨影的微气象站采集环境数据以供学习。固定站测量降水、温度、湿度、风速和风向、辐射以及土壤温度和水分。这些数据使学生能够计算综合变量，如蒸散量和土壤水分平衡，同时观察这些变量如何随季节以及海拔、沿海距离和坡向的变化而变化。实时数据通过遥测传输，教师、助教和学生可以通过网络访问。现有低级班的课程、实验室和内容正在修改，以纳入这些数据。我们还在开发新的高师本科课程，学生将在讲座中学习气象概念，然后接触实验室的测量，最后参与野外部署。其中几个塔配备了网络摄像头，这样学生就可以在分析实时数据的同时可视化正在发生的事情。智力优势：这个项目正在为各种各样的班级提供数据，并通过基于探究的学习来提高学生的理解力。本科生大量参与数据收集和分析，并将发布几个本科生项目。让低级课程的本科生接触科学实践、测量和数据解释，提高对课程主题的理解，更好地为高年级课程做好准备，并提高他们对科学和工程职业的兴趣。更广泛的影响：该项目正在极大地影响地理教育，并成为时空数据收集、分析和解释方面的教育模式。通过基于网络的数据访问，圣巴巴拉城市学院和东洛杉矶学院都可以访问数据，东洛杉矶学院是一家为少数族裔服务的机构。

Geology (42)Geographic education is most effective when students actively participate by developing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data and interpreting results. We are sampling environmental data for learning with micrometeorological stations deployed in a coastal plain, a south-facing slope, the crest of an east-west trending range, a north-facing slope, and a rain shadow. Fixed stations measure precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, radiation, and soil temperature and water content. These data are enabling students to calculate integrated variables such as evapotranspiration and soil water balance, while observing how these change seasonally and with elevation, coastal proximity, and aspect. Real-time data are transmitted via telemetry and made web-accessible to instructors, teaching assistants, and students. Lessons, laboratories and content for existing lower-division classes are being revised to incorporate these data. We are also developing new upper-division undergraduate courses, in which students will learn meteorological concepts in lectures, then be exposed to measurements in the lab, and finally participate in field deployment. Several of the towers are equipped with webcams so that students can visualize what is happening while analyzing real-time data. Intellectual Merit: This project is producing data for a wide array of classes and is improving student understanding through inquiry-based learning. Undergraduates are heavily involved in data collection and analysis, and several undergraduate projects will be published. Exposing undergraduate students in lower-division courses to scientific practice, measurements and data interpretation, improves understanding of course topics, better prepares students for upper-division classes, and increases their interest in science and engineering careers. Broader Impacts: This project is dramatically affecting Geographic education and serves as a model for education in spatial-temporal data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Through web-based data access, data are accessible to Santa Barbara City College and East Los Angeles College, a minority-serving institution.