Enhancing applied, interdisciplinary learning with online, interactive case history modules that bridge undergraduate geoscience courses

Proposal submitted to the University of British Columbia (UBC) Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) 2015 call. Project Summary Complex geoscience problems often cross disciplinary lines. As such, when students become professionals, they will be required to draw upon and connect concepts from a range of disciplines. However, students are given little institutional or instructional support to build this web of connected concepts; most courses are taught in isolation. We propose to support students’ exploration of these connections using multi-disciplinary touchstones that connect six courses across the disciplines of geology, geophysics, geological engineering and hydrogeology. We will develop these touchstones using interdisciplinary case histories: scientific narratives that begin with an applied problem, incorporate data and analyses, and conclude with inferences and solutions to the stated problem. This project will create online modules, with embedded interactive simulations, which enable students to examine the scientific concepts and connections between these concepts within the context of each case history. Interdisciplinary teams of students will be employed in the development of these modules