THE EARTHEDONLINE SOFTWARE SYSTEM: SUPPORTING ACCESS TO EARTH DATA, SCIENCE WRITING, AND PEER REVIEW

The purpose of the EarthEd Online software project is to support a modern inquiry focused pedagogy in an introductory college level earth science course. It has evolved in the context of a large general education oceanography course. The system has been designed with an "opensource/openCourseware" philosophy. All teachers have access to a searchable database of homework problems, images, writing assignments, and other resources. The library currently contains about 700 problems and 1400 images. It is populated as teachers enter and catalog new problems and resources for their course assignments.

Primary goals for the oceanography course are to support learners in acquiring a knowledge of science process, an appreciation for the relevance of science to society, and basic content knowledge. In support of these goals, the EarthEd system incorporates: a) integrated access to various kinds of real earth data (and linking to web-based data browsers), b) threaded discussions, c) writing, reviewing (including calibrated peer review), and grading, d) integrated graphics editing, linking, and upload, e) homework assignments, f) on demand grade calculation, and g) instructor grade entry and progress reports.

Writing assignments are authored online. An integrated image editor and uploader allows image notation and linking. As reviews are handed in online, the teacher can view, comment, and score with a point, click and drag operations. Or, if it is a calibrated peer review assignment, the students' review activities. This peer review method helps students learn by reviewing, and also saves the instructor approximately 80% of the grading effort.

The integrated data browser allow easy access to data supporting plate tectonics, ocean properties (Ocean Atlas-98), and an exploration of the East Pacific Rise at 9N. A multi-user online version of the FishBanks game is also in development (see http://earthednet.org/)