STRUCTURED ENCOUNTERS WITH REAL DATA: SNEAKING UP ON DOING SCIENCE (Invited Presentation)

Students deploy quantitative and qualitative methods in labs and watch faculty model how to do science in the classroom and field, yet many feel that science is something done by other people. Students in the Environmental Geoscience track in Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences have no intensive capstone experience (geology field camp, 12-week internship) to build confidence in their skills and knowledge. Instead, semester-long projects broken down into bite-sized chunks give them opportunities to grapple with real data, identify problems, propose solutions, and put the pieces together in a final product that looks and feels like real science. Two of these projects occur in Water Resources Management (WRM) (sophomore/junior level), and Surface Hydrology (junior/senior level). In WRM, students summarize and analyze changes in water use for a particular state; in Surface Hydrology, students quantify local land use change over time, estimate changes in runoff volume and quality, and propose ways to reduce runoff quantity and improve quality. Both assignments divide students into teams, break the project into manageable chunks, space out turn-ins throughout the semester, provide both peer and instructor feedback at each step, and culminate in a public poster session for friends and faculty during class time. The degree of independence and amount of structure, however, differ. The WRM project is more prescribed. Each group completes similar tasks with a focus on developing basic data analysis and communication skills. The Surface Hydrology project builds on students’ previous experience, and gives them more freedom to choose approaches and propose solutions as long as they adequately justify their selections. As students put the pieces together for the final presentations, they realize that the trees they have been working on have turned into a forest. Many report feeling surprised to understand they were actually doing science. Students are proud of their accomplishments and feel empowered when they realize their knowledge of their topic is deeper than that of other students and perhaps even faculty members. Many note their enjoyment of the final product in course evaluations and include the projects in their portfolios after graduation.