Teacher participants will work in teams over the Internet. They will investigate interesting, relevant environmental problems and will generate products and answers that demonstrate deep understanding of content, not rote memorization. Teachers will build their own knowledge base of Earth system science in a way that is creative and meaningful.

This project is supported by NASA Earth Science Enterprise - Education Program, Goddard Space Flight Center. This course is structured as a collaborative, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) experience and is held exclusively in an online environment.

The focus of this course is to develop Earth Systems Science knowledge using the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Model. You can then apply what you have learned about Earth Systems Science and Problem-Based Learning to your own student classrooms and school curriculum.

Earth Systems Science thinking begins with the premise that the land, air, water, and living things on the earth are inextricably related and affect each other constantly. This view leads to a rich study of events and situations that draws on the traditional science disciplines and goes beyond them with the rigorous thinking required by theory building about the relationships in the system. Such interdisciplinary, complex, and rigorous thinking needs to be supported by an instructional model, such as Problem-Based Learning, that engages each thinker in bringing the best of his or her knowledge, experience, and thinking to bear.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional method using real-world contexts for in-depth investigations of a subject matter. PBL activities start with an ill-structured problem that serves as a springboard to team engagement. In this course, you will use the PBL Model to assess what is known, to answer questions, and then to analyze various options before presenting a recommendation or solution.

This course is designed to help you articulate and evolve your own knowledge about Earth Systems Science and to learn to collaborate for knowledge-building. The methodology, Problem-Based Learning, begins with complex scenarios to invite a variety of interpretations that are then investigated and lead to supportable findings about Earth Systems Science relationships.

The course structure and weekly activities allow you to use PBL in an interplay of individual and team work. Your focus is on the development of your own thinking. The juxtaposition of it with your teammates' thinking and the other teams' contributions provide the healthy dissonance you need to evolve your own thinking.

In the fourth week of the course, you will begin the first of four, three-week cycles. Each week of the three-week cycle has a rhythm of individual and team activity to support personal knowledge growth through individual reflection and team discussion. The three weeks in each cycle are known as Week A: Teacher as Problem Solver, Week B: Teacher as Model Builder, and Week C: Teacher as Designer. You will examine a different event (Coral Reefs, Tropical Forests, Ozone, Global Change) in each cycle.

During Week A and Week B you will do individual and team activities that teach you how to use the PBL Model in an Earth Systems Science (ESS) context. Then in Week C you will use what you have learned about PBL and ESS to design a PBL lesson for your students.

In the last week of the course, you will complete an individual final project.

Course Goals
This course is modeled so that you will learn how to use science as inquiry from the student perspective and then be able to model this teaching approach in your own classroom. Specifically, you will:

Evolve your own knowledge about Earth Systems Science and your skills in thinking systemically about specific events.
Learn to develop strong arguments with hypotheses, assertions, and evidence.
Develop collaborative skills for knowledge-building, argument-building, and acting as a critical friend.
Develop PBL experiences that will engage your students in using Earth Systems Science thinking.

Methodology
To accomplish the goals above, you will act as a problem solver, model builder, and designer and will:

• collaborate online in learning teams of four to six teachers
• be supported and coached by a facilitator and an Earth Scientist
• develop your own knowledge through weekly reflection and production
• use rubrics to gauge your progress

Outcomes
As a result of your reflection, research, and collaboration, you will:

• develop model building skills for Earth Systems Science thinking and Problem-Based Learning increase your scholarly knowledge of Earth Systems Science as demonstrated by mapping your pre-study ideas and then evolving them through research, reflection, and discussion
• develop online collaboration skills
• create four PBL learning experiences for your students

Outline
During Weeks 1-3 you will do orientation activities. Then in Weeks 4 —15 you will participate in four three-week cycles. Over the course of each three-week cycle you will complete both individual and team required assignments. Provided with each assignment is a Scoring Rubric which details requirements for grading. You will end the course after you complete the assignments in Week 16.

Each assignment has a specific deadline, so participants need to be involved on a regular basis throughout the 16 week course.

Go to printable Application for the course.
Questions? Contact Libby Rognier lrognier@wested.org