The landscape of earth science education is shifting quickly due to emerging technologies and shifting priorities, which present both challenges and opportunities in pedagogy. Satellites, genetic sequencing, long-term in situ sensors, model results and reanalyses, digitized collections and citizen science are producing massive datasets, requiring students in earth and environmental sciences to learn scientific computing skills to utilise them. However, many students in earth and environmental science degree programs report lacking the computational skills needed to work with earth observation data.
At the same time, ubiquitous access to computing can help universities meet goals around educating more scientists by accelerating learning and lowering the barrier to entry with technologies such as virtual labs and cloud-based learning environments. Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, further expand these possibilities but also raise questions about ethical use and how best to support meaningful student engagement and scientific understanding.
This session invites researchers, educators, industry practitioners, and representatives from other organisations working in Earth and environmental science education to share innovative and effective approaches to developing geospatial and computational skills in Earth and environmental science education. We welcome contributions describing successful courses, programmes, learning environments, and other educational tools, as well as experiences evaluating their impact and accessibility. We are particularly interested in highlighting initiatives with a proven track record of targeting and including intersectional identities traditionally under-represented among earth, environmental and/or computer scientists.
This session is being organized jointly with a short course with the same name, where there will be a hands-on opportunity to share educational tools. If you are looking to demonstrate your educational tool or module in an interactive setting, we encourage you to apply to this session, and we will contact you about the short course.