Departmental context

EOAS perspectives

The Department’s current “state” is best articulated by referring to the most recent strategic plan and stated aspirations from departmental meetings and retreats.

The EOAS Department’s 2021 strategic plan (executive summary) provides a snapshot of aspirations based on deliberations within the department, it’s history, and anticipated priorities of incoming new faculty. Of particular relevance to the QuEST project:

>>Departmental aspirations are predicated on the facts that (a) Earth sciences are rapidly evolving due to new measurement, analysis, computational and interpretation techniques, and (b) understanding the complexity of Earth’s System and human influences demands inter-disciplinary, multidisciplinary and collaborative scientists and professionals. EOAS faculty, staff and students are motivated by the challenges facing societies, and inspired by a curiosity to understand the natural world. Aspirations expressed included building on existing core strengths, fostering collaborations in both teaching and research, and engaging with civil society to bring data- and science-based solutions to all the challenges of living safely, sustainably and equitably on our planet.

>>Mathematical and computational methods are a particular strength within EOAS. They are a cornerstone of research and learning needed to address urgent challenges such as climate change, geohazards, and mineral, water and renewable energy resources. Enhancing the department’s world-class teaching programs is one of several primary goals, with quantitative and computational methods for data analysis and modelling a key component for all degree programs. Another goal is to reach beyond our standard degree programs to provide opportunities targeting both public and professional audiences, with certificate programs for professional learning and outreach activities for public and K-12 audiences. Quantitative aspects of our disciplines do need to be visible and comprehensible appropriately for the targeted audience.

Aspirations & commitments expressed at the EOAS Dep’t retreat, May 2022, include:

  • OCESE, QuEST and EaSIEL are key on-going projects that will continue into the current year and likely beyond. These represent good opportunities for people to collaborate in teaching across EOAS disciplines.
  • We will launch a new 3-year u-grad teaching plan next year.
  • We need to consider broader implications of a potential expansion of environmental science education (and research) across the Faculty of Science, and EOAS’s key role in that.
  • We should consider how might we give EOAS students a broader understanding of the societal implications of Earth Sciences, while still providing them with appropriate technical knowledge.
  • Some ideas were discussed regarding ways to help students re-connect in a (hopefully) post-COVID learning environment.

Strengths, or “identify” of the Department, based on paired interviews completed in early 2023. Thirty two research or teaching faculty were contacted and 17 participated. The three most agreed upon characteristics are:

  1. The department is unusually multi-disciplinary in terms of (a) the range and types of quantitative science used and taught and (b) styles of academic “upbringing”.
  2. The perceived scope of “quantitative Earth science” varies according to discipline, but all agree that data science is key – and growing – across specializations.
  3. The Earth sciences can be a particularly meaningful, important and inspiring context in which to earn a science degree, yet the opportunities are poorly recognized by prospective students, their families, and advisors who help students decide on post-secondary options.

The unusual diversity of EOAS could be considered as both a challenge and an opportunity.
>>The challenge is articulated by a quote from Kwok, 2018, “Courses should be designed for the benefit of students, not the convenience of the instructors. Some courses are in the syllabus because they reflect the research specialties of individual faculty members, which may not be essential to a particular major.” EOAS needs to agree on fundamental capabilities desirable in graduates with and “Earth sciences” degree, and choose program objectives that ALL (or at least most) faculty members could contribute towards.
>>The opportunity is that EOAS has a unique opportunity to offer students a truly interdisciplinary perspective on quantitative nature of Earth sciences, a perspective that could be argued as especially relevant to society today and moving forwards.

The geophysics community in BC and across Canada continues to be vibrant and UBC’s contributions continue to be important, both in terms of graduates and research. A one-day “open-house” event celebrating the UBC Geophysical Inversion Facility in November 2022 attracted over 40 participants from local geophysical industry and academic communities. The attended to celebrate 30 years of contributions to applied geophysics from the GIF group, to welcome the new incoming director, Prof. Lindsey Heagy, and to hear about current and future directions of research.

The number of undergraduates in the geophysics program is “low” but the potential for increasing the number of quantitative students in geophysics and related programs is at least as strong as any institution in Canada. The Department would be missing opportunities for growth if these sector was allowed to fade.

Student perspectives from the survey of 4th year EOAS students in 2020 (Jolley, 2020) support the fact that EOAS options are rather “invisible” to potential or prospective students. Sadly, the majority of respondents identified the UBC Calendar as the place they first learned of the specialization they eventually pursued. Even the EOSC 1xx courses were not commonly as influencing decisions. This is a widely held perspective as other institutions and colleagues commonly agree that geosciences are under-represented as inspiring degree options. These types of data speak mainly to the need for marketing quantitative degree opportunities rather than saying something useful about curriculum.

A “bottom line” question: Can EOAS establish principles underlying science curricula in EOAS? Balancing professional and scientific priorities is challenging, but EOAS has great diversity across scientific and professional perspectives.

Faculty of Science and UBC Strategic Plans

The Faculty of science strategic plan includes four core areas with objectives. Relevant to the QuEST project objectives is the Education core area, involving three strategies. These are less about discipline-specific issues, and more about ensuring equitable perspectives on subject matter and access to education, and continued excellence in teaching and learning practices. Specifically the three strate

  • Progression in the use of evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning.
  • Cultural competency, equity, diversity, and inclusion through curriculum and pedagogy.
  • Programming and mechanisms that reinforce a student-centered experience.

The Data Science Curriculum Group 2019 Report and Recommendations for the Faculty of Science, prepared between 2018 & 2019, are also relevant. The QuEST project was initiated partly in response this report which stated: “…current and future graduates need skills to organize, interact with and extract meaning from data. [These skills] … are applicable to a wide and expanding range of career paths and will open future opportunities for UBC students, as well as contribute to a data-literate citizenry.”

From UBC’s strategic plan, the “Transformative Learning” component has several assumptions, summarized as follows:

  • “A rapidly diversifying economy, social context and job market requires a different kind of education — one with greater focus on transferable skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration and communication, and one that promotes and supports continuous learning.“
  • Students need to be considered as co-creators of their education.
  • Program should be redesigned around competencies; the development of problem-solving experiences; technology-enabled learning; and continued growth in work-integrated education.

These are the five strategies for addressing “transformative learning”, each directly targeted in QuEST project recommendations:

  1. Education Renewal: Facilitate sustained program renewal and improvements in teaching effectiveness.
  2. Program Redesign: Reframe undergraduate academic program design in terms of learning outcomes and competencies.
  3. Practical Learning: Expand experiential, work-integrated and extended learning opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.
  4. Interdisciplinary Education: Facilitate the development of integrative, problem-focussed learning.
  5. Student Experience: Strengthen undergraduate and graduate student communities and experience.