Many instructors in Earth sciences and other scientific disciplines wish to engage students with the latest advances in their fields, teach cutting-edge skills, and adopt more equitable and inclusive teaching practices. The latter is an especially pressing need in the Earth sciences, which remain among the least diverse of all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields [Bernard and Cooperdock, 2018].
However, achieving these goals while balancing other requirements of careers in science and science education is extraordinarily challenging. It is simply impossible to be an expert in everything. Instructional models that significantly reduce barriers to providing innovative teaching may thus be highly valuable for scientist-instructors, saving them time and increasing their effectiveness in engaging a diversity of students.
The active learning that this approach engenders lends itself to equitable and inclusive teaching practices.
The comprehensive, evidence-based approach of Observing Earth from Above offers such a model, tailored for teaching students how to access, visualize, and communicate satellite remote sensing data focused on the environment. First piloted in 2023, we developed Observing Earth from Above to provide equitable and inclusive pedagogy and content that transforms students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward science and to create an environment where all students can be successful.
We applied the principles of project-based learning (PBL), in which students engage in projects as a foundational part of the curriculum. Seven principles guide the PBL approach:
- Start with a challenging problem or question
- Be subject to sustained inquiry
- Have authenticity
- Incorporate student voice and choice
- Provide opportunity for reflection
- Include critique and revision
- Conclude with a public-facing end product
The active learning that this approach engenders lends itself to equitable and inclusive teaching practices [Theobald et al., 2020]. It also supports our goal to empower students and increase their interest in science, their science identity, and their sense of self-efficacy, which are keys to enhancing diversity in STEM [Ballen et al., 2017a].
A Range of Resources
The materials developed for Observing Earth from Above focus on NASA’s Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission [Fisher et al., 2020]. ECOSTRESS, launched in 2018, provides high spatial resolution observations of land surface temperatures globally, with revisit times of every 3–5 days. These land surface temperatures are then used to derive additional data products related to evapotranspiration, water use efficiency, and evaporative stress index.
At the heart of the resources provided by Observing Earth from Above is a series of follow-along tutorials in which students learn how to access ECOSTRESS data using the free NASA AppEEARS (Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples) interface, visualize those data using free and open-source geographic information system (GIS) software (Figure 1), and then effectively communicate their findings. A key goal is for students to repeatedly practice accessing and visualizing data over the span of the tutorials, creating familiarity through repetition while gradually introducing new and increasingly sophisticated skills and data products. However, each tutorial is also designed to stand alone and to require only about 30 minutes to complete, which increases the flexibility of their use.
We complement the tutorials with video lectures that introduce the ECOSTRESS mission, provide comprehensive overviews of the theory and algorithms for each data product, discuss current applications of these products, and consider best practices in data visualization and science communication. The slide decks used for each lecture are available for instructors to modify and adopt as needed.
Resources also include short video interviews with individuals of diverse identities who have different careers connected to remote sensing. For example, students can learn how a college student found himself in graduate school using satellite remote sensing to detect crop disease or how an air pollution specialist uses satellite remote sensing to track air quality.
Together these resources form the basis of a course with learning outcomes aligned to core competencies, including the abilities to apply the process of science, use quantitative reasoning, understand the interdisciplinary nature of science, communicate and collaborate with others, and understand how science relates to society. In addition, we provide sample syllabi, assignments, and even grading rubrics, each of which can be particularly helpful for early-career faculty developing new classes while balancing research and service demands.
Pedagogy and Curriculum in Practice
The course spans disciplines including environmental science, remote sensing, geographic information systems, data science, science communication, environmental justice, and others.
We have now taught the Observing Earth from Above materials twice to undergraduate students at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. The course spans disciplines including environmental science, remote sensing, GIS, data science, science communication, environmental justice, and others. As such, it draws students from across majors—from philosophy and business to science and engineering—engaging them in interdisciplinary thinking grounded in science. Such an approach, connecting STEM to other disciplines, can improve students’ ability to contribute to the STEM workforce [Tytler, 2020].
During twice-weekly class sessions, students first learn about a given topic through a lecture; then they work through a tutorial on that topic. Weekly homework assignments prompt students to engage further by producing a new satellite remote sensing data visualization related to the topic.
For example, students may practice working with land surface temperature data by drawing a polygon around their hometown on a map, downloading corresponding ECOSTRESS data, and producing a visualization of the hottest or coldest local surface temperatures. This “hometown temperature competition” exercise begins to connect satellite remote sensing to issues of personal relevance, which is an important motivational factor for student learning and may provide inspiration for career paths [Priniski et al., 2018]. Having students work on a series of low-stakes assignments through the course ensures that they are making progress and that they have opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned in a way that minimizes the undue stress and anxiety that often accompany high-stakes midterm and final exams [Ballen et al., 2017b].
After learning to gather and visualize land surface temperature data, students turn their attention to producing visualizations of evapotranspiration and water use efficiency in different environments, for example, comparing a field with a neighboring forest. They ultimately tackle a final project of their choosing, often using ECOSTRESS data to characterize a recent environmental event such as a heat wave or wildfire, which offers a sense of timeliness and relevance. Final projects have ranged from a study of how cooling water from power plants affects lake surface temperatures to how dam removal affects rates of evapotranspiration on neighboring riverbanks.
One student studied the surface temperatures of the school grounds in her hometown of Brea, Calif., for her final project (Figure 2). Increasing temperatures at schools represent a growing problem that has implications for students’ physical and mental health. She and another student have since expanded this work to consider every K–12 public school across Orange County, California, and are studying how school ground temperatures correlate with neighborhood demographics. This work drew interest from city government officials, who are using the information to help decide where to prioritize limited resources for repairing and renovating school grounds.
Students have expressed excitement and a sense of accomplishment at seeing the societal impacts of their work.
Students have expressed excitement and a sense of accomplishment at seeing the societal impacts of their work. In addition to the interest in the school temperatures project, other student projects are now featured on NASA’s ECOSTRESS image gallery, where they contribute to the mission’s public-facing communication efforts. Following participation in the Observing Earth from Above course, some students have focused on transitioning their class projects into publishable science, helping to advance their careers and expanding the value of the ECOSTRESS mission.
Encouraging Outcomes
The 47 students in our first two cohorts reported increases in their interest in remote sensing and science, in their sense of science identity, and in their self-efficacy to participate in science (Figure 3). One possible explanation for the reported increases may be the success of project-based learning; in semistructured interviews, students repeatedly mentioned the course’s “real-world” approach (in contrast to typical problem sets and exams):
- “The projects connected classroom theories to real-world environmental issues, which made the learning process incredibly relevant and engaging.”
- “Tackling real-world problems through projects developed my ability to analyze complex datasets and think critically about potential solutions.”
- “The hands-on GIS component was unlike anything offered in my other courses, providing not just insight but real-world skills.”
More equivocal were students’ responses about their interest in pursuing a career in science, which did not change significantly after participating in the course. A possible explanation is that about half the students across the two classes were already pursuing majors outside the natural sciences and may have been envisioning careers related to those majors.
Still, the videos featuring individuals from various careers in remote sensing were well received by many of the students, according to their interview responses. We are as content with the idea that a journalism student, for example, could engage with satellite remote sensing as part of their reporting as we are with the idea of a student changing career paths because of their participation in the course. Ultimately, the course helps build marketable skills for internships and career opportunities across disciplines—indeed, some students have subsequently been accepted for internships at NASA and other institutions.
Earth Sciences for Everyone
Through word of mouth and conference presentations, we are engaging broader networks of educators and expanding the use of Observing Earth from Above’s learning materials to colleges and universities across the country. In these efforts, we are emphasizing empowering early-career instructors at institutions that predominantly serve students from identities that have historically been underrepresented in the geosciences.
The materials, revised on the basis of initial evaluations and assessments, are now being used by instructors at the University of California, Riverside; Murray State University; California State University, Northridge; Northern Arizona University; Wesleyan University; Colorado State University; New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, many of which are minority-serving institutions.
This expansion has not been without challenges: Different schools have different academic calendars, curricular requirements, and class structures (e.g., with different meeting durations). And because adding new classes to course catalogs can be difficult and time-consuming, many instructors must blend our materials with other materials that they have to teach.
Highly modular, evidence-based materials that help address unmet needs are more flexible and likely of greater value for a broader range of educational settings than a full semester-long curriculum.
Highly modular, evidence-based materials that help address unmet needs are more flexible and likely of greater value for a broader range of educational settings than, for example, a full semester-long curriculum. Thus, we designed our lecture and tutorial content for application in 30-minute blocks to facilitate their widespread use.
Analytics data from fall 2024, the first semester that the materials were publicly available, indicate robust use. Nearly 400 users engaged with the website more than 1,500 times, and more than half of the visits were to the tutorials. Ongoing evaluation and assessment will help us understand how students with diverse identities and their instructors interact with the materials—and thus how they can be improved in the future.
Broadening diversity in the Earth sciences and expanding the relevance of the discipline in addressing environmental and societal challenges require transformative, evidence-based approaches that create equitable and inclusive opportunities for people of all identities to contribute. NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other institutions have expressed strong interest in the pedagogical framework of Observing Earth from Above as one such approach and in applying it to other missions beyond ECOSTRESS. And we welcome additional interest from other programs.
We are confident that Observing Earth from Above can become a model for creating accessible educational experiences designed around Earth science missions and applications that can be used widely across classrooms to engage a new generation of students.
Acknowledgment
Observing Earth from Above was developed with support from NASA ECOSTRESS mission grant 80NSSC23K0309.
References
Ballen, C. J., et al. (2017a), Enhancing diversity in undergraduate science: Self-efficacy drives performance gains with active learning, CBE Life Sci. Educ., 16(4), ar56, https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-12-0344.
Ballen, C. J., S. Salehi, and S. Cotner (2017b), Exams disadvantage women in introductory biology, PLOS One, 12(10), e0186419, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186419.
Bernard, R. E., and E. H. G. Cooperdock (2018), No progress on diversity in 40 years, Nat. Geosci., 11(5), 292–295, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0116-6.
Fisher, J. B., et al. (2020), ECOSTRESS: NASA’s next generation mission to measure evapotranspiration from the International Space Station, Water Resour. Res., 56(4), e2019WR026058, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026058.
Priniski, S. J., C. A. Hecht, and J. M. Harackiewicz (2018), Making learning personally meaningful: A new framework for relevance research, J. Exp. Educ., 86(1), 11–29, https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2017.1380589.
Theobald, E. J., et al. (2020), Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 117(12), 6,476–6,483, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916903117.
Tytler, R. (2020), STEM education for the twenty-first century, in Integrated Approaches to STEM Education: An International Perspective, edited by J. Anderson and Y. Li, pp. 21–43, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52229-2_3.
Author Information
Gregory R. Goldsmith ([email protected]), Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, Calif.; Monae Verbeke, Institute for Learning Innovation, Beaverton, Ore.; Jeremy Forsythe, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; and Joshua B. Fisher, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, Calif.
