The Earth System Science Education Experience: Personal Vignettes

Colleges and universities across the country and around the world have embraced the Earth system approach to gain deeper understanding of the interrelationships of processes that define the home planet. The Design Guide for Undergraduate Earth System Science Education, a product of the NASA/USRA Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century Program (ESSE 21), represents a synthesis of community understanding of the content and process of teaching and learning about Earth as a system. The web-based Design Guide serves faculty from multiple disciplines who wish to adopt an ESS approach in their own courses or programs. Illustrating the nine topical sections of the Design Guide are a series of short vignettes telling the story of how ESS is being used in the classroom, how ESS has contributed to institutional change and personal professional development, how ESS is being implemented at minority serving institutions, and the impact of ESS education on student research. Most vignettes are written from a personal perspective and reflect a direct experience with Earth System Science Education. Over forty vignettes have been assembled aiming to put a face on the results of the systemic reform efforts of the past fifteen years of the ESSE programs, documenting the sometimes intangible process of education reform to be shared with those seeking examples of ESS education. The vignettes are a vital complement to the Design Guide sections, and are also available as a separate collection on the Design Guide and ESSE 21 web sites.