Using Ocean Data in Education

COSEE NOW is pleased to present a new webinar series on Using Ocean Data in Education. In this series, we will explore effective strategies for incorporating real ocean data in formal and informal education products and programs, as a way to connect students to scientific concepts and real-time science.

Who should attend? This series is designed for informal educators, especially those who are part of the Ocean Observing System (OOS) community or museum/aquaria staff interested interested in Ocean Science. We also encourage the participation of OOS Scientists interested in increasing their outreach capacity.

Presenters: The webinar series is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence Networked Ocean World (COSEE NOW) and will be delivered by science education professionals at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Rearch Institute (MBARI), Hatfield Marine Science Center, and Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education.

Session A: EARTH: Education And Research: Testing Hypotheses

Date: May 11, 2010 at 1:00 pm EST
Presenter: George Matsumoto, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

It is clear the ability to collect data has not been matched by our ability to disseminate this information to the public or the educational community and that both researchers and educators are still learning how to use existing data effectively. Dr. Matsumoto will discuss his involvement with EARTH, the well-received program of MBARI to enable engagement of students with real oceanographic and other data by provision of data, supporting lesson plans and activities, as well as training, to educators.

As the MBARI observatory efforts ramp up, EARTH is beginning to be recognized as a portal to this wealth of MBARI data, both archived and near-real-time, as well as ocean observing data from other instruments. The EARTH website has a focus on data distribution (near-real-time and archived) with supporting lesson plans and activities. Anyone who is already using data in the classroom or would like to, will benefit from his wealth of experience of what works and what doesn’t.

• View the recording of George’s presentation.
• Download George Matsumoto’s Presentation (ppt)
• Join the Real Time Data Workgroup

Sessions B & C: Beyond the Wow! Helping public audiences make sense of scientific visualizations

Date: May 17th and 25th, at 1pm EST
Presenter: Shawn Rowe, Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center

Public audiences, school audiences, and even scientists in training often have trouble with all kinds of scientific visualizations. In fact, developing skill at using visualizations is part of becoming an expert. We know from research that experts and novices actually SEE and INERPRET visualizations differently. Novices need

1. explicit direction and modeling in how to SEE what experts see in visualizations,
2. multiple entry points to making sense out of visualizations, and
3. conceptual and perceptual anchors within visualizations.

If we want audiences to see, make sense of, and use our visualization products, we must explore ways to both support audiences in becoming more expert, and also developing visual cues within images that make them more accessible.

For this two part workshop, we will examine some of the theoretical issues and empirical work surrounding visualizations as communicative and cognitive tools, go out and try our hand at improving visualizations and return to develop some common tools, techniques, and questions that can guide our future work.

• Session B: View the recorded session | Download Shawn Rowe’s Presentation(pdf)
• Session C: View the recorded session | Download Shawn Rowe’s Presentation (coming soon)
• Join the Real Time Data Workgroup

Session D: COOL Classroom: Building a Collaborative Design Team for Science Curriculum Development

Date: June 8th, at 1pm EST
Presenter: Ravit Duncan, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education

Ravit will discuss the development of the COOL Classroom, and strategies for incorporating data products into inquiry driven classroom lessons.

• View the recording of Ravit’s presentation.
• Download Ravit Duncan’s Presentation (ppt)
• The Hudson River Plume Activity on the COOL Classroom
• Join the Real Time Data Workgroup