Reinvigorating Computational and Quantitative undergraduate Curricula for the Earth, Ocean, Atmospheric, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at UBC

Computing, programming and quantitative thinking continue to grow in importance across geoscience disciplines, and the need to enhance corresponding undergraduate curricula is well established. With this contribution we will share the motivation, approaches and emerging results of two parallel department-wide curriculum renewal projects underway at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The first, Open-source Computing for Earth Science Education (OCESE), focuses on enhancing open source programming and data science learning across all skill levels, establishing infrastructure, and providing professional development for faculty. The second, Quantitative Earth Sciences Transformation (Quest), involves defining new future-ready qualifications that will inspire students to develop rigorous, marketable quantitative capabilities within important, meaningful geoscience contexts. Marketing to appropriate prospective students and engaging with quantitative, data science oriented professional and academic communities are also priorities. Informed by precedent from computing and quantitative education research, data being gathered include (a) formal and informal feedback from students, colleagues, academic and professional communities and employers; (b) a curriculum map of the computing, programing, mathematics and physics knowledge, skills and attitudes across our courses and degree programs; (c) assessments of students capabilities, and (d) industry, public sector and academic expectations of graduate competencies. Early project outcomes include positive, constructive student and instructor reactions to early changes in seven geoscience, atmospheric and oceanography courses, implementation of sustainable infrastructure & educational delivery practices, and establishing local & international consensus & collaborations. Year 1 evaluation results from stakeholder engagement, faculty response over time, degree of consensus and buy-in achieved during curricular design, and student reactions to new learning opportunities will be presented. Reporting now will help further collaborations with colleagues across the geosciences, especially with AGU delegates attending education, outreach and open-source software sessions.