Thursday, May 23, 2019
What
happens
when
you
combine
a
great
opportunity
such
as
the
Dean
of
Science
Undergraduate
Teaching
Initiative
with
a
group
of
creative
geoscientists
striving
to
improve
university
education?
You
generate
innovative
ideas
specifically
designed
to
propel
the
future
of
education
that
embraces
the
next
generation.
We
recently
received
substantial
funding
to
integrate
active
learning,
emerging
technologies
and
blended
learning
in
classrooms,
laboratories
and
outside
while
we
are
immersed
in
nature
in
the
Department
of
Earth
and
Environmental
Sciences.
Transformations
will
be
infused
into
14
courses,
innovatively
improving
first-
to
fourth-year
courses
in
all
programs.
This
team
effort
is
designed
to
encourage
collaboration
between
faculty,
staff,
graduate
and
undergraduate
students.
Making
a
tectonic
shift:
improving
active
learning
in
the
classroom
and
the
field
is
one
of
the
successfully
funded
proposals.
A
part
of
this
proposal
involves
integrating
the
scientific
method
into
a
systems-level
approach
across
multiple
courses.
This
will
help
better
prepare
young
geoscientists
addressing
the
future
of
Earth’s
resources
such
as
water
and
minerals.
Using
Emerging
Technologies
to
enhance
field,
experiential
and
active
based
learning
is
another
successfully
funded
proposal.
A
part
of
this
proposal
involves
creating
dynamic
study
APPs
to
help
students
identify,
relate
and
contextualize
rocks
and
minerals.
Another
part
of
this
proposal
involves
bringing
the
outside
world
into
the
classroom
using
virtual
reality
or
overlaying
data
in
the
real
world
to
augmented
reality
while
students
are
exploring
the
outside
world.
This
proposal
creatively
uses
emerging
technology
and
the
idea
that
the
best
geoscientists
are
those
that
see
or
work
with
the
most
rocks.
Development
of
Interactive
Blended
Learning
Modules
for
Enhancing
Lab
Skills
and
Preparedness
is
another
successfully
funded
proposal
that
was
submitted
with
other
disciplines
in
the
Faculty
of
Science.
A
part
of
this
proposal
involves
creating
unique
interactive
modules
to
better
prepare
students
before
and
after
class,
labs
and
field
excursions.
These
are
really
exciting
times
in
the
Department
of
Earth
and
Environmental
Sciences
at
U
Waterloo!
Byline:
Keith
Delaney,
Jen
Parks,
Christina
Smeaton
and
John
Johnston
(Team
Leaders
of
the
DUTI-EES
Proposal)