Interactive Earth Systems - A Curriculum and Course Development Project

来自几个系的六名教职员工正在开发一门多学科的两学期课程序列，名为《互动地球系统》。这两门入门课程旨在帮助初学的大学生理解科学知识适用于他们的生活，对当代人类社会非常重要。通过四个关键概念向学生介绍对地球及其环境演变的理解，每个概念都由一个具体的案例研究介绍：地球系统的性质和相互作用；地球系统中的循环和流动；长期的时间尺度变化；以及人类相互作用和灾难性事件。该设计的一个特点是使用了单独的学习模块，每个模块都构建在一个特定的主题上。每个单元包括每周两次一小时的讲座和两次两小时的课程，学生们以3-4人的小组合作解决特定的问题或回答特定的问题。学习这些课程的学生正在了解支配自然世界变化的科学规律以及全球变化对人类的影响。

Six faculty members from several departments are developing a multidisciplinary two term course sequence titled "Interactive Earth Systems". The two courses at the introductory level, are intended to help beginning college students understand that scientific knowledge is applicable to their lives and is important for contemporary human society. Students are introduced to an understanding of the evolving earth and its environments via four key concepts, each introduced by a specific case study: the nature of earth systems and interactions; cycles and flows in the earth systems; long time- scale changes; and human interactions and catastrophic events. A special feature of the design is the use of individual modules of learning, each constructed on a specific topic. Each module consists of two one-hour lectures each week and two two- hour sessions in which the students solve specific problems or answer specific questions in small cooperative groups of 3-4 students. Students taking these courses are gaining an understanding of the scientific laws governing changes in the natural world and the human implications of global changes.