CAREER: Implementing Inquiry-Based Approaches in Geoscience Education and Research

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。地球科学中最重要的问题之一是劳动力需求与我们培养训练有素的学生的能力之间日益扩大的差距。这个项目正在研究以探究为基础的教育和研究方法是否可以帮助我们应对这一挑战。这项考试建立在迈阿密大学内部资助的课程修改项目上，该项目正在将地质学入门课程从讲授课程转变为探究课程。这种基于调查的方法也是研究一项令人兴奋的新观察结果的自然方法，该观察结果表明，构造板块边缘的断层会产生幕式震动和滑动(ETS)，这代表了一种以前未被认识到的变形类型，它发生在脉冲破坏性地震和缓慢的地质蠕变之间的时间尺度上。针对这些最新发展，该项目采取了以下综合研究和教学举措：--通过以下方式将探究式学习方法扩展到其他课程：1)开发一个新的讲习班，培训高中教师如何在高级选修环境科学课程中使用探究式学习方法；2)在大学一级开设一门新的第二门课程，重点关注与板块构造有关的物理过程如何与地质灾害有关。这些努力对于确保学生练习科学方法而不仅仅是记住结果至关重要。-扩大对ETS行为的研究，1)使用新开发的检测算法在全球范围内搜索ETS，以及2)通过在加固的临时网络上长期记录ETS信号来调查地震、慢滑、地震和地质结构之间的时空关系。这些努力对于更好地理解断层如何移动和产生危险的物理学是至关重要的。-通过以下方式扩大学生的研究体验：1)向更多的学生提供本科生研究，包括调查是什么构成了一个成功的研究项目；2)在课堂上和与合作研究小组一起试验在线研究讨论。这些努力有助于确定在教学和研究一体化方面需要改进的关键领域。该项目的综合教学和研究计划旨在实现三个更广泛的影响成果，以解决培养一支受过科学训练的劳动力队伍的关键问题：-通过让学生更早地接触具有内在动机的科学经验(即AP积分或个人对危险的兴趣)，鼓励他们考虑从事科学事业--通过让他们在新开发的研究领域(即，ETS)工作来留住他们，这些研究领域解决了高度社会重要性的问题(即，地震的原因)--通过更频繁地使用科学方法来改善学生的科学训练。为了确定教学和研究活动是否正在产生预期的更广泛的影响结果，该项目正在迈阿密大学评估办公室的帮助下，利用和开发一套广泛的评估工具。这些评估的结果以及为实现这些结果而开发的工具正在向公众公布，并正在为国际教学和研究会议以及同行评议的期刊编写教学和研究结果。综合举措是专门为最大限度地扩大受这项工作影响的学生人数而设计的，这样每年就有10名学生被引导发挥科学家的作用，而不仅仅是学习科学成果。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).One of the most important issues in the geosciences is the growing disparity between the workforce needs and our ability to produce well trained students. This project is examining whether inquiry-based approaches to education and research can aid us in this challenge. This examination builds on an internally funded course revision project at Miami University that is converting an introductory geology courses from lecture-based to inquiry-based. The inquiry-based approach is also a natural one to investigate an exciting new observation that faults on the edges of tectonic plates produce episodic tremor and slip (ETS) that represents a previously unrecognized type of deformation that occurs on time scales in between impulsive damaging earthquakes and slow geologic creeping. In response to these recent developments, this project has the following integrated research and teaching initiatives:- expand the inquiry-based learning approach to other courses by 1) developing a new workshop to train high school instructors how to use an inquiry-based approach in an advanced placement environmental science class and by 2) constructing a new second-course at the college level that focuses on how physical processes associated with plate tectonics relate to geologic hazards. These efforts are critical to ensure that students are practicing the scientific method not just memorizing the outcomes. - expand the investigations of ETS behavior by 1) searching for ETS in a global context using newly developed detection algorithms and by 2) investigating the spatial and temporal relationships between tremor, slow slip, earthquakes, and geologic structures through longer-term recording of ETS signals at fortified temporary networks. These efforts are critical for better understanding the physics of how faults move and generate hazards.- expand the student research experience by 1) offering undergraduate research to a larger set of students including an investigation into what makes a successful research project and by 2) experimenting with online research discussion both in classes and with collaborating research groups. These efforts are helping to identify key areas for improvement in the integration of teaching and research. The integrated teaching and research plan of this project is designed to achieve 3 broader impact outcomes that address the key issue of preparing a scientifically trained workforce: - encourage students to consider a scientific career by exposing them earlier to scientific experiences that have intrinsic motivation (i.e., AP credit or personal interest in hazards)- retain science majors and graduate students by having them work on newly developed areas of research (i.e., ETS) that address problems of high societal importance (i.e., what causes earthquakes)- improve students' scientific training through more regular use of the scientific method. To determine whether the teaching and research initiatives are leading to the desired broader impact outcomes, this project is utilizing and developing an extensive set of assessment tools with help from the Assessment Office at Miami University. The results of these assessments as well as the tools developed to achieve the outcomes are being made publically available, and the teaching and research findings are being prepared for both international teaching and research conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. The integrated initiatives are specifically designed to maximize the number of students who can be impacted by this work, such that 10s of students per year are being guided to function as scientists, instead of just learning about scientific results.