Starting Point: Teaching Entry Level Geoscience

Learn about instructional methods that work with entry-level geoscience students. This site is designed for faculty and graduate students teaching undergraduate entry-level geoscience, environmental science, or related courses. Each section describes a teaching method, why/when it is useful, how it can be implemented, and a set of examples spanning the Earth system that can be used in your class.Topics include Atmosphere, Biosphere, Climate, Earth Cycles, Evolution, Geography, Human Dimensions, Hydrology, Oceans, Solar System and Astronomy, Solid Earth, Surface Processes and Time/Earth History.

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/index.html

The Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)

The Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) offers a fine range of educational materials for educators hoping to build their students' "understanding of the core ideas in climate and energy science." Visitors can look over the What's New area to learn about updated lesson plans, classroom activities, and featured resources like "Soil Microbes and Global Warming." Users shouldn't miss the Browse the Reviewed Educational Resources area. Here they can learn about scientifically and pedagogically reviewed digital resources for teaching about climate science, organized by resource type and grade level. Some of these activities include "What is the fate of CO2 produced by fossil fuel combustion?" and "Paleoclimates and Pollen." Additionally, visitors can sign up to join the CLEAN community and access more webinars and workshops, become a CLEAN reviewer, or learn about new resources as they are released.

http://cleanet.org/index.html

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

MIT OpenCourseWare: Teaching College Level Science & Engineering

How does one teach science and engineering at the college level? It can be a daunting question, particularly for newly minted PhDs, but this rather fine course from the OpenCourseWare initiative at MIT offers high-quality suggestions. The site includes a syllabus, calendar, readings, video discussions, assignments, and other related resources. In the Syllabus area, visitors can learn about the basic lesson plans for the course. The Readings area has some great material, including sections on Teaching Equations, Course Design, Lecture Planning and Performing, and Political Barriers To Educational Change. Visitors should look over the Video Discussions area, which includes conversations with Professor Sanjoy Mahajan about the material. Finally, the site includes links to helpful books and other materials that will be most useful for those seeking further edification.

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-95j-teaching-college-level-science-and-engineering-spring-2009/index.htm

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

IEEE Access

JCU researchers in engineering now have access to a new journal from IEEE. 

"IEEE Access is an interdisciplinary, applications-oriented, all-electronic archival publication continuously presenting the results of original research or development across all of IEEE's fields of interest. Supported by author publication fees, its hallmarks are a rapid peer review and publication process with open access to all readers. Articles are reviewed for technical substance and presentation quality. But, unlike IEEE's traditional Transactions or Journals, reviewers are asked to assess the technical correctness of a paper and its potential interest to readers. Readers will evaluate the work through their comments and usage metrics, updated frequently, will be displayed with the abstract of each paper published. Especially encouraged are submissions on:

• Interdisciplinary topics, or applications-oriented articles that don't naturally fit into one of IEEE's existing primary Transactions or Journals;
• Practical discussions of new experimental or measurement techniques, including negative results;
• Applications articles describing interesting solutions to engineering or information system design challenges;
• Development of new or improved fabrication or manufacturing techniques;
• Reviews of new or evolving fields oriented to assist others in understanding the new area."

Records for IEEE Access will appear shortly in JCU's ejournal list and Tropicat.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/aboutJournal.jsp?punumber=6287639

Stanford University Linear Accelerator: Videos

The Stanford University Linear Accelerator was opened in 1962, and since then it has produced and trained a veritable cornucopia of internationally known research scientists and six Nobel prize winners. It also happens to have its own fine YouTube channel, which brings together a wide range of research lectures, symposia, and public discussions. Some of the recent offerings here include "A Blueprint for New Fuel Cell Catalysts," "Quantum Lightswitch: A New Direction in Ultrafast Electronics," and "Supernova Shock Waves: Powerhouses of the Galaxy." The Backstory videos are quite fun, as they feature interviews with various physicists about their work, which is always fascinating. On the right side of the site, visitors can look over thematic collections, such as Favorite Videos, SLAC Science Shorts, and Quantum Bits.

http://www.youtube.com/user/slac

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013.  https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

NOVA's Physics Blog

NOVA's Physics Blog is billed as "the physics of nothing, everything, and all the things in between." This "Nature of Reality" blog promises "a space that welcomes big ideas about space, time, and the universe." The posts here include graphics, animations, and other visually compelling materials. Visitors can scroll down on the right side of the page to look over Recent Posts, Recent Comments, and the contributors to the blog. It's a diverse group, including mathematician James Stein and physicist Frank Wilczek. Recent posts include "Why is the Higgs So Light?" and "Scientific Approaches to the Fine-Tuning Problem." Each entry concludes with the Go Deeper area, which features the editor's picks for further reading.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/blog/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013.  https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

Science: Video Portal

Alya Red: A Computational Heart

The folks at Science magazine craft a wide palette of audio visual materials, many of which can be accessed through their video portal. In the Featured Videos, visitors can learn about some recent explorations into education reform, deep sea explorations, and the Higgs boson. Scrolling down the site, visitors will notice that the videos are divided into seven sections, including Engineering, Environment, and Medicine. It's easy to see how these videos could be effectively used in a number of classroom situations to complement existing lectures and presentations. New users might do well to start with the "Alya Red: A Computational Heart" video and the rather thoughtful "California Meteorite Rush." 

http://video.sciencemag.org/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/ 

http://video.sciencemag.org/Featured/2127025911001/1 

Engineers Against Poverty

Engineers Against Poverty (EAP) is a non-governmental organization that works in the field of engineering and international development. EAP works to harness members' combined skills to alleviate poverty throughout the world and work on the challenges involved with sustainable development along the way. The materials on the site are divided into five sections, including Major Initiatives, Key Issues, Publications, and EAP's Programme. A good place to start is the Major Initiatives area. Here users can learn about some of the key issues and challenges in the domain of engineering, poverty reduction, and more. The EAP's Programme area has information and working papers on the organization's work in transforming extractive industries and infrastructure projects. Finally, the Publications area contains works like "Employment Intensive Road Construction" and "Climate Compatible Development in the Infrastructure Sector Overview.

http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/about_eap.cfm

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/