Earth Hazards Consortium: a Novel Approach to Student Education in Geoscience
Abstract
The Earth Hazards (Ehaz) consortium consists of six research-based universities in the United States (Michigan Technological University, University of New York at Buffalo), Canada (McGill University, Simon Fraser University) and Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad de Colima) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the Secretaría de Educación Pública of Mexico, as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The objective of the consortium is to expose students to a wide variety of scientific and cultural perspectives in the mitigation of geological natural hazards in North America. This four-year program is multi-faceted, including student exchanges, graduate level, web-based courses in volcanology, and intensive group field trips. In 2005 to 2006, a total of 27 students were mobilized among the three countries. In this first year, the videoconferencing course focused on caldera "Supervolcanoes" with weekly discussion leaders from various fields of volcanology. At the end of the course the students participated in a field trip to Long Valley and Yellowstone calderas. Also during the first year of the program, Mexico hosted an International Course on Volcanic Hazards Map Construction. The course was attended by graduate students from Mexico and the United States, included lectures from noted guest speakers, and involved a field trip to Popocatépetl volcano. The multi-university course focus for 2007 is Volcanic Edifice Failure with a field trip planned in August 2007 to the Cascades and Western Canada. A student survey from 2006 demonstrated that (1) during the videoconferencing the students benefited by the weekly interaction with well-known volcanologists at the top of their field, (2) the field trip provided an outstanding opportunity for participants to link the theoretical concepts covered during the course with the field aspects of supervolcano systems, as well as the opportunity to network amongst their peers, and (3) students who went abroad indicate that the program provided support for internship opportunities contributing to their professional development, in addition to gaining a unique cultural experience. Changes for 2007, based on student feedback, include an hour of class time dedicated to student-student interaction in which the class participants discuss the science together as a group before meeting with the speaker, and the addition of student moderators who stimulate discussion and handle questions for the guest speakers. The course and field trip focus for 2008 is Convergent Plate Boundary Volcanism/Mexican Volcanic Belt. The consortium welcomes participation in the EHaz program from interested discussion leaders, students, and education specialists in teaching and learning
- Publication:
-
AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AGUSMED41E..02M
- Keywords:
-
- 0825 Teaching methods;
- 0850 Geoscience education research;
- 8400 VOLCANOLOGY