IMPROVING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF DATA-RICH ACTIVITIES WITH THE COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION TOOL

Over the last 20 years the Earth education community has collectively and openly shared over 5000 teaching activities through SERC-hosted websites, as highlighted in the NAGT-managed Teach the Earth portal. These activities are freely available for instructors to use, and many include data-rich teaching resources that help students build critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills that are essential for learning Earth science. Over time, many data-rich materials do not remain current or relevant to students as datasets become out of date or unavailable. To address this issue, we have created the Community Contribution Tool (CCT) through which people who use the activities can submit updated datasets, graphics, and other components of data-rich TTE modules. Contributions are visible within the original activity and are attributed to the contributor. We hope this new functionality will catalyze a virtuous cycle where updated data sets and classroom experiences on effective use of the activities are shared and thus extend the lifespan of the original activities. We introduced the CCT at our 2024 workshop, Improving the Sustainability of Data-rich Activities through the Community Contribution Tool, which was held at the Earth Educators’ Rendezvous. There, geoscience faculty participants collaboratively learned about data-rich online curriculum modules and best practices for creating resources for long-term, sustainable use. Participants also learned how to select strong data sources (e.g., with long-term data source viability for future access and updates), document data sources, and provide instructions for future users to update data sets. At the workshop and in the weeks following, participants learned to use the CCT and practice using the tool to update existing curriculum modules in the InTeGrate (Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future) and GETSI (GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues) collections. Beyond the workshop, the CCT will continue to facilitate instructors in the geoscience community to collectively update teaching materials to extend the lifespan of materials used by thousands of geoscience educators.