Get WET Observatory: Implementing a Fluid Learning Experience for Undergraduates

Get WET（地下水教育与教学）观测站通过提供实地学习地表和地下水过程的机会，加强了本科专业和非专业的地质学课程。天文台由六个地下水监测井组成，这些井毗邻校园内的一条常年溪流。这些水井增加了现有的两个地下水灌溉井和一个地面监测站，从而在天文台提供不同空间的地表水和地下水覆盖。天文台每年直接影响约500名主修及非主修专业人士，并利用“Get WET”设施在六门课程中开发新的学习材料。不超过15名学生的入门地质学实验室，以三到四人为一组，提供小组学习和讨论的机会。通过对学生对地下水过程的概念进行前后评估，对学生在地质实验室入门课程中的学习情况进行评估。天文台也被纳入四年制专业，加强学生对地表和地下水相互作用的复杂性以及地下地球物理学的学习。教育数据集的公开传播大大增加了天文台在科罗拉多州立大学校园物理边界之外的效用。三个部门和一个研究和推广中心的合作正在建立一个精通地下水相关学科教学的学者社区。与天文台有关的外展活动包括与当地初中和高中科学教师合作，举办两次教师教育讲习班，培训教师了解地表水和地下水的相互作用，为初中和高中学生开展实地练习，以及为教学援助提供助教支持。

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.