{"id":2135,"date":"2023-10-10T18:03:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T01:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eoasquest\/?page_id=2135"},"modified":"2023-10-21T07:19:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T14:19:15","slug":"early-thoughts-about-concepts-tools","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/eoasquest\/early-thoughts-about-concepts-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Concepts, tools and programs; early ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Synthesized from deliberations during summer 2020 and at Dep’t retreats of 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Contents<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Program learning objectives (PLOs)<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Concepts to be learned<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Course ideas<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Eldad\u2019s sketch for a program<\/a>\n
      \n
    1. General principle<\/a><\/li>\n
    2. Goals of a QES program<\/a><\/li>\n
    3. Major principles of the program<\/a><\/li>\n
    4. Particular Courses<\/a><\/li>\n
    5. Other issues to fix in existing geophysics curriculum, aligned with the above<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/a>1. Program learning objectives (PLOs):<\/h2>\n

      These are \u201cgeneric\u201d since they are not about any specific degree specialization. They are meant to articulate priorities and expectations for quantitative BSc degrees in Earth Science such as geophysics, atmospheric science, physical oceanography, etc.<\/p>\n

      Students will \u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \u2026 choose and apply foundational math and physics concepts (to 2nd<\/sup> or 3rd<\/sup> year level) to address problems involving the physics of Earth or planets and describe the techniques used to explain planetary physical processes.<\/li>\n
      2. \u2026 be ready for research\/industry\/government positions, not limited to Earth-science related fields: transferable skill is central to what we teach (similar to physics, but more applicable)<\/li>\n
      3. \u2026 apply physical, mathematical, computational and Earth science concepts to explain and address society\u2019s challenges as they relate to geosciences. Examples include climate change, water & resource exploration & management, natural hazard forecasting & mitigation, and others.<\/li>\n
      4. \u2026 gain sufficient awareness of how observational geoscience works either explicitly or by implication during QES courses, so they can contribute knowledgeably in geoscience teams.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Comment<\/strong>: These are on the right track, but could be refined. Consider synthesizing a broadly applicable set of PLOs based on current PLOs for ATSC, OCGY and GEOP specializations (summarized here<\/a>), with additional insights from EOAS service course PLOs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        <\/a>2. Concepts to be learned<\/h2>\n

        The table below summarizes concepts that several faculty members listed as priorities for any quantitative Earth sciences degree. Math and geophysics were emphasized but few \u201cgeoscience\u201d concepts were listed.<\/p>\n

        In future discussions, it should be recognized that the Earth system context is what makes a QES degree from this Department unique. Geoscientific \u201cthinking\u201d is as distinct as mathematical or physics-based thinking, so exposure to, and practice using, observational Earth science ways of thinking do need to be incorporated into a QES degree program. This aspect can be addressed without too many \u201cextra\u201d courses by carefully weaving geoscience contexts into existing courses, but that needs to be explicit, by design, and with relevant components for practice and corresponding assessment.<\/p>\n

        Many of these are already taught \u2013 see the \u201cCurrent EOAS course content\u201d page. Not all concepts would be required to complete a QES degree. Also, these are not meant to map one to one onto individual courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
        Fundamental concepts<\/strong><\/th>\nEarth-science concepts<\/strong><\/th>\nMethods, tools, strategies<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
        \n
          \n
        • conservation laws, mechanics, thermodynamics<\/li>\n
        • equations of state, constitutive laws<\/li>\n
        • waves (how? to what degree of sophistication?)<\/li>\n
        • diffusion, damping, advection<\/li>\n
        • signals and noise<\/li>\n
        • forcing and feedback, stability, bifurcation<\/li>\n
        • scientific hypothesis testing by both experimentation and observation<\/li>\n
        • simulation and prediction using empirical \/ statistical models<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
          \n
        • continuum mechanics (plus basic classical mechanics)<\/li>\n
        • fluids, solids, porous media<\/li>\n
        • GFD<\/li>\n
        • convection in a variety of settings<\/li>\n
        • hydrology & hydrogeology<\/li>\n
        • seismic wave propagation<\/li>\n
        • potential fields: gravity, magnetics, EM in context<\/li>\n
        • climate physics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n