Collaborative Research - Characterizing the Role of Spatial Thinking in Learning Hydrogeology: A Classroom, Field, and Expert-Novice Study

协作研究 - 表征空间思维在学习水文地质学中的作用：课堂、现场和专家-新手研究

• 批准号: 2043620
• 负责人: Heather Petcovic
• 金额: $ 14.99万
• 依托单位: Western Michigan University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2043620&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Characterizing; Role; Spatial; Collaborative; Research; Characterizing; Role; Spatial

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the education of geoscience and environmental professionals in hydrogeology, which focuses on understanding the flow of surface and subsurface water. The nation has a growing need for hydrogeologists to ensure clean and sustainable water sources. As they work to understand and predict the movement of water and other molecules, hydrogeologists must integrate three-dimensional data from maps, wells, and other sources. Research in some STEM disciplines shows that training students in three-dimensional thinking can improve their persistence and retention, especially among women and students of color. However, the specific three-dimensional thinking skills used in hydrogeology have not yet been defined, hampering efforts to train students for hydrogeology careers. This project will explore how expert versus student hydrogeologists use three-dimensional spatial thinking skills to predict the movement of water and contaminants. It will define the critical three-dimensional thinking skills used by professional hydrogeologists to solve water and contaminant flow problems. It will then characterize how students use (or do not use) these skills when learning hydrogeology in the classroom. This information is a critical first step toward creating teaching materials to better prepare a diverse and capable hydrogeologist workforce. Hydrogeology deals with surface and subsurface water flow and the transport and fate of environmental contaminants within those flows. Graduates with hydrogeological training are in high demand in the environmental and geosciences labor market. In addition to requiring specialized knowledge, hydrogeology is a heavily visuospatial discipline that requires practitioners to integrate disparate data from maps, cross-sections, stratigraphic columns, geological and numerical models, well data, water level data, and contaminant concentrations. These data are synthesized to form a three-dimensional model of the subsurface and groundwater flow and contaminant transport. This project seeks to address two research questions: (1) What spatial thinking skills are essential to successfully completing a site characterization and contaminant plume task in hydrogeology? (2) How do students use these skills while completing this task in classroom and field settings? Question 1 will be addressed using a dominantly quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional expert-novice study in which upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, and industry and academic experts in hydrogeology complete a suite of spatial thinking and knowledge tests, as well as a site characterization hydrogeology task based on typical classroom exercises. Question 2 will be addressed with a qualitative investigation of how students complete the same hydrogeology task in field and classroom contexts using (or not using) spatial thinking skills identified as essential in Question 1. An external advisory board of experts in cognitive science, geoscience education research, and hydrogeology will advise and provide feedback on the course of the research. Study results will be disseminated in conference presentations and journals. Project deliverables will include identification of specific spatial thinking skills essential to hydrogeology, development of a hydrogeology concept inventory to assess student knowledge, and an evidence-based model of how students use hydrogeology knowledge and spatial thinking to solve water and contaminant flow problems in field and classroom settings. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在通过改善地球科学和环境专业人员在水文地质学方面的教育来服务国家利益，该地质地质学的重点是了解地面和地下水的流动。该国对水文学家的需求日益增长，以确保清洁和可持续的水源。当他们努力理解和预测水和其他分子的运动时，水文地质学家必须整合来自地图，井和其他来源的三维数据。在某些STEM学科中的研究表明，培训学生对三维思维的培训可以改善其持久性和保留性，尤其是在有色人种的女性和学生中。但是，尚未定义用于水文地质学的特定三维思维技能，这阻碍了培训学生从事水文地质职业的努力。该项目将探讨专家与学生水文地质学家如何使用三维空间思维技能来预测水和污染物的运动。它将定义专业水文地质学家使用的关键三维思维技能，以解决水和污染物问题。然后，它将表征学生在课堂上学习水文地质学时的使用（或不使用）技能的特征。这些信息是创建教材以更好地准备潜水员和有能力的水文学家劳动力的关键第一步。水文地质学处理了这些流中环境污染物的表面和地下水流以及环境污染物的运输和命运。在环境和地球科学劳动力市场上，接受水文地质培训的毕业生需求很高。除了需要专业知识外，水文地质学是一门视觉繁重的纪律，需要从业者整合地图，横截面，地层柱，地质和数值模型，井数据，水位数据，水位数据和污染物浓度的不同数据。这些数据被合成以形成地下和地下水流和污染物传输的三维模型。该项目旨在解决两个研究问题：（1）哪些空间思维技能对于成功完成水文地质上的现场表征和污染物羽毛任务至关重要？ （2）学生在课堂和现场设置完成此任务时如何使用这些技能？问题1将使用主要的定量，描述性，横断面专家 - 网络研究来解决，其中高层本科生，研究生以及行业以及水文地质学领域的学术专家完成了一套空间思维和知识测试以及基于典型课堂练习的现场表征的水理学任务。问题2将通过定性调查来解决学生如何使用（或不使用）确定为问题1的空间思维技能完成相同的水文地质任务。研究结果将在会议演讲和期刊中传播。项目可交付成果将包括识别水文地质学必不可少的特定空间思维技能，开发水文地质学概念库存以评估学生知识，以及基于证据的模型，该模型如何使用氢化学知识和空间思维来解决水中和污染物流动问题。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习轨道，该计划支持了承诺实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估被认为是宝贵的支持。