Computation and Visualization in the Earth Sciences

Catalog description

Students practice data visualization and analysis using computational methods for Earth science data to build content knowledge and interpretation skills. EARTH 801 helps students to develop procedural programming skills in a programming language designed for visual artists and visualization while exploring Earth science topics. In particular, students learn and practice digital graphics capabilities in order to render Earth science concepts that are otherwise difficult to visualize due to complicated space and time scales. Both spatial and object visualization skills are key to success in the Earth sciences; students in this course will build an awareness of these skills and practice them with an eye to being able to teach them to their own secondary school students. In this course, students will interact with large, open, freely-available Earth science data sets by collecting, plotting, analyzing them using a variety of computational methods. Students will therefore be ready to teach their own secondary school students a range of Next Generation Science Standards skills involving data collecting, manipulation, analysis, and plotting. EARTH 801 students will also read and discuss current research regarding the teaching, learning, and evaluation of visualization skills in the Earth sciences, as well as exploring the theory of "multiple external representations" as applied to Earth science concepts and data sets.