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Hi All,
Great discussion. I have too many thoughts swirling to get them all down, but I'll throw out a few.

First, while I'd not be shocked if you could find examples where GER projects advanced traditional geoscience research, I'd also not be surprised if you couldn't make such connections. It's not where I'd focus the argument.

Instead, I'd note that we geoscientists know and can make a compelling case, at least within our own community, that the most serious challenges facing society in the coming decades are problems grounded in, and made less horrible by, understandings of the geosciences. More specifically, climate, energy, soil, and water are all geoscience issues and issues of both current and future crises.

As geoscientists, we have a civic duty to help every citizen understand the import of these issues. We're largely failing at these tasks and traditional educational research is failing to assist us. While at least hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on educational research projects in the last 40 years, I'm not aware of a single improvement in the outcomes of the system of science education that can be connected to an advance in educational research.

If educational research has led to advancements that improve outcomes on a broad scale, it should be obvious in the scientific literacy of the general population. It's not obvious.

It's not obvious at all. I don't think we're more ignorant, though I do think certain ignorant voices have more amplification.

This is where I'd focus the argument. It's a civic duty.

That alone may not win the day, unfortunately. So, we can take a more selfish and self-promotional tack. Research studies that bring together two or more well understood ideas in non-traditional ways are more likely to advance the field and more likely to be cited (Uzzi, et al. 2013). Likewise, innovations are more likely to broadly adopted and improve user experiences if those innovations are "optimally distinct" (Berger, 2016). Optimally distinct innovations are characterized by being different enough from current practice to make a difference, but not so different that they cannot be reasonably easily understood. They, like the impactful research, also bring together two or more well understood ideas in novel ways.

That is, bringing well understood finding from the geosciences together with well understood findings from educational research has the potential to both change the world and draw positive scholarly attention to your department.

I don't really care if you and your department advance this work for civic or selfish reasons, just do it. Dammit.
Cheers,
Don

References:

Berger, Jonah. “The Goldilocks Theory of Product Success.” Harvard Business Review, July 7, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/07/the-goldilocks-theory-of-product-success.
Uzzi, Brian, Satyam Mukherjee, Michael Stringer, and Ben Jones. “Atypical Combinations and Scientific Impact.” Science 342, no. 6157 (2013): 468–472.

On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 1:25 PM, Carol Ormand <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I echo Julie's sentiments... Great question, Glenn. 

You asked, "Have there been cases, published research where a GER project actually advanced traditional geoscience?" Tim Shipley, Basil Tikoff, I, and Cathy Manduca published some of our work in the Journal of Structural Geology, for reasons that sound similar to Julie's publication in Tectonophysics. Your colleagues might find the reference compelling: 

Shipley, Thomas F., Basil Tikoff, Carol J. Ormand, and Cathryn A. Manduca (2013). Structural Geology Practice and Learning, from the Perspective of Cognitive Science: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 54, pp. 72-84.

cheers,
Carol

-----------------------------------------------------
Carol Ormand, Ph.D.
She / Her
Science Education Resource Center
Carleton College
(608) 213-1618

On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 11:46 AM, Libarkin, Julie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Glenn:

 

Good for you for pushing the boundaries!

 

Iris Totten and I came up with “geocognition” for this exact reason, plus the fact that the work many of us do is not simply housed in traditional educational spaces (although education can occur anywhere) nor is it always focused on teaching/learning. I tend to speak about my work as geocognition or “at the intersection of human dimensions and earth science”. Generally, the level of interest over geocognition or human dimensions is much higher than over GER. Do I think that is fair? No – I value all work. Sadly, not everyone agrees that pedagogical research or research on people is as valuable as traditional science. Personally, I see this work as belonging to the disciplines as much as anything else. My colleague who does geomicrobiology? He’s a geologist and a biologist and an oceanographer. He still has PhDs in the Earth and Environmental Sciences.

 

Have you shared the papers in the Geosphere Human Dimensions theme? Since you have a paper and since these are quite broad and might be persuasive:

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geosphere/pages/humandimen

 

I can’t answer to your other question about impacts on geoscience – although, I did ultimately write a paper that appeared in Tectonophysics because of my working out how best to teach geoid anomalies in a geophysics course.

 

Best of luck! Let me know if I can help in any way. My students get PhDs in the Dept of Earth and Environmental Science, and I know many other folks also have DBER PhDs run through the science department as well. So, this is not an uncommon occurrence (as you know!). I’m happy to discuss more in person or provide other guidance 😊

 

Julie

 

Julie Libarkin
Professor
Director - Geocognition Research Lab
Michigan State University
288 Farm Lane, 206 Natural Science
East Lansing, MI 48824
 
Phone: 517-355-8369
Email: [log in to unmask]

Website: https://geocognitionresearchlaboratory.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

From: Glenn Dolphin <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Glenn Dolphin <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 at 12:35 PM
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Where GER has impacted traditional geoscience

 

Hi all.

I am in the process of trying to convince my Department of Geosciences to welcome a geoscience education research specialization for a Ph.D. awarded by the department. This has been an uphill battle and one of the reasons seems to be that GER is not considered by many in the department as traditional geoscience (by the bye, geophysics was in the same boat through the 1930s to 1950s and look at it now). Anyway, during one extended discussion, I made the supposition that GER had in some instances probably advanced the field of geoscience and said that I would do some research to see if this was, in fact, the case.

 

So, I am reaching out to those who may have some knowledge of this. Have there been cases, published research where a GER project actually advanced traditional geoscience?

 

Another thought I am having is that the phrase "education research" in GER is also a bit of a stumbling block as some of my colleagues continue to point out that "if it is education research, it belongs in the school of education." "It's only pedagogical studies." "It's only done by people who want to be better teachers, so why not just create a certificate program?"

 

Anyway, this is a much larger discussion, but I bring it up now as an idea for which I am seeking feedback. Might dressing the discipline a bit differently help with its acceptance in traditionalist environments? I was thinking of a name change from geoscience education research to geoscience cognition research or geocognition research (credit to Julie Libarkin's group for the name). I was thinking that since we are really studying the interface of geology and the mind,  how people think about geology, learn in geology, do geology, this may be more accurate while still acknowledging that there are educational implications to the research. I'm just sending that out for some possible conversation. If you have any thoughts, please send them my way, or, better yet, to the group. 

 

Best, Glenn

 

Glenn Dolphin

Tamaratt Teaching Professor

Department of Geoscience

University of Calgary

2500 University Drive NW

Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4

[log in to unmask]

403.220.6025





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