TEACHING PLANETARY SCIENCES ACROSS LEVELS AND DISCIPLINES AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY (Invited Presentation)

The Planetary Science Group at Wesleyan University began as a collaboration between and geologist and an astronomer 20 years ago and has blossomed into a core group of 5 faculty, several affiliated faculty members across Chemistry, Physics and Biology, an undergraduate minor and an MA degree. The pedagogical centerpiece is a weekly graduate level 0.25 credit seminar, where over 4 semesters, 4 fundamental topics in planetary sciences (Origins, Inner and Outer planets and Life) are covered in a lecture/discussion format attended by upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs and faculty across the sciences (n ~ 15-25). This forum has allowed us to build an enhanced understanding of planetary processes through the viewpoints of the various disciplines and has resulted in several interdisciplinary thesis and publications amongst members of the group. We extend this methodology to a large (n=80) general education lecture/lab course, The Planets, taught by the same geologist and astronomer mentioned above. We find that the inclusion of the lab at the introductory level and the discussion of the viewpoints of the two disciplines exposes students to a large range of methodologies, allows them to practice science and to place science in a cultural context. Additionally, at the general education level, Planetary Group faculty offer Introduction to Planetary Geology (n=60) in the Earth and Environmental Science Department, and Worlds Beyond: The Search for Life in the Universe (n=40) in the Astronomy Department, thus reaching a large and often enthusiastic audience of liberal arts students. Because of the growth of Planetary Sciences as a discipline and the recognition of its utility as a laboratory to study and test basic Earth processes, the standard Earth and Environmental Science curriculum includes upper level Planetary Geology and Cosmochemistry courses and Planetary Science lecture and lab modules and examples now permeate Geomorphology, Structural Geology, Sedimentology, Volcanology, Remote Sensing and Climate Science. The Planetary Science MA, although no longer unique in the country, has been successful in attracting students with traditional degrees and preparing them for careers in Planetary Science.