Blazing New Paths for Inter disciplinary Hydrology

Wilson, J S; Hermans, Caroline; Sivapalan, Murugesu; Vörösmarty, Charles J

doi:10.1029/2010eo060001

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…In 2009 and 2010, several of the authors of this paper were involved in the Vancouver Hydrological Synthesis Summer Institutes: novel educational and research enter-25 prises in which students took the lead in outlining, planning and implementing research around four consecutive topics over a 6 week period (Thompson et al, 2011;Wilson et al, 2010) topics and provided with supporting datasets. The students were challenged to (i) develop research questions and hypotheses that were relevant to the research topic and which could be addressed using the available data; (ii) to develop a research strategy by which the team could answer these research questions and investigate the hypotheses; (iii) implement that research strategy, adapting it as necessary; and (iv) 5 to present their results at a "capstone" symposium consisting of other young earth scientists.…”

Section: A Discovery Based Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging the students of today and preparing the catchment hydrologists of tomorrow: student-centered approaches in hydrology education

Ngambeki¹,

Thompson²,

Troch³

et al. 2012

Preprint

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As hydrologists confront the future of water resources on a globalized, resource-scarce and human-impacted planet, the educational preparation of future generations of water scientists becomes increasingly important. Although hydrology inherits a tradition of teacher-centered direct instruction – based on lecture, reading and assignment formats – a growing body of knowledge derived from engineering education research suggests that modifications to these methods could firstly improve the quality of instruction from a student perspective, and secondly contribute to better professional preparation of hydrologists, in terms of their abilities to transfer knowledge to new contexts, to frame and solve novel problems, and to work collaboratively in uncertain environments. Here we review the theoretical background and empirical literature relating to adopting student-centered and inductive models of teaching and learning. Models of student-centered learning and their applications in engineering education are introduced by outlining the approaches used by several of the authors to introduce student-centered and inductive educational strategies into their university classrooms. Finally, the relative novelty of research on engineering instruction in general and hydrology in particular creates opportunities for new partnerships between education researchers and hydrologists to explore the discipline-specific needs of hydrology students and develop new approaches for instruction and professional preparation of hydrologists

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Section: A Discovery Based Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging the students of today and preparing the catchment hydrologists of tomorrow: student-centered approaches in hydrology education

Ngambeki¹,

Thompson²,

Troch³

et al. 2012

Preprint

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“…Hydrologic synthesis, in which we include not only activities that target understanding of the water cycle, but also biogeochemical, ecological and human dimensions of water science, therefore provides a valuable complementary approach to classic hydrologic research. There have been many calls for hydrologic synthesis (Blöschl, 2006; Fogg and LaBolle, 2006; Hubbard and Hornberger, 2006), several pilot projects have been commissioned (Wilson et al , 2010), and new educational initiatives are beginning to incorporate synthesis thinking into broad programs of hydrological research and education (Blöschl, 2011).…”

Section: Introduction: What Is Synthesis?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the most rapid timescale, the US National Science Foundation has trialed two synthesis projects in hydrology, which aimed to undertake synthesis over a four‐year period. Both these projects placed a strong emphasis on Ph.D. student‐driven research, immersive summer research institutes, and interdisciplinary workshops (Wilson et al , 2010). By drawing together participants from multiple disciplines around a focal problem or problems that straddle disciplinary boundaries and language barriers, dedicated teams of researchers can tackle difficult puzzles that can only be solved through interdisciplinary perspectives (Borner et al , 2005).…”

Section: Introduction: What Is Synthesis?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns, puzzles and people: implementing hydrologic synthesis

Thompson

Harman

Schumer

et al. 2011

Hydrological Processes

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There have been several calls made for hydrologic synthesis research: namely activities which unify diverse data sources across sites, scales and disciplines to uncover new connections and to promote a holistic understanding of water science. This paper draws on the NSF-funded Hydrological Synthesis Project (HSP) run by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to elucidate mechanisms, benefits and challenges of implementing hydrologic synthesis research from the perspectives of participants in a pilot research study. Two broadly different mechanisms of implementing synthesis were adopted in the HSP: 6-week Summer Institutes in which Ph.D. students conducted team-based research under the guidance of faculty mentors, and focused workshops which disseminated knowledge and shared experiences between scientists at many different career levels. The Summer Institutes were a test bed in which new ideas could be explored, assisted students in developing a wide range of skills, and were highly productive, but posed challenges for mentors and students because the 'new' research topics initiated during the Institutes' programmes needed to be completed in competition with students' ongoing Ph.D. research or mentor's existing research programs. The workshop-based model circumvented this conflict and was also highly productive, but did not offer the same opportunity to experiment with new ideas as part of the synthesis research. Leadership, trust, flexibility and long gestation times were all important to bringing synthesis research to a positive resolution. Funding models that embrace the exploratory aspects of synthesis and provide adequate support to mentors and students over these long timescales would facilitate future hydrologic synthesis research.

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“…For instance, in one project students developed hypotheses and research plans to explore the determinants of catchment water balance partitioning using data from 430 US Watersheds, and a combination of data analysis, analytical modeling and GIS based methods. The details of the Summer Institutes are reported in several papers regarding hydrological synthesis Wilson et al, 2010), the research outcomes of the 2009 Institute are published in a special issue of Water Resources Research, and the 2010 Institute outcomes are currently being submitted to a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research. There are several aspects of the Summer Institutes that are worth emphasizing in terms of their implications for student-centered learning.…”

Section: A Discovery Based Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2009 and 2010, several of the authors of this paper were involved in the Vancouver Hydrological Synthesis Summer Institutes: novel educational and research enterprises in which students took the lead in outlining, planning and implementing research around four consecutive topics over a 6 week period Wilson et al, 2010). A group of 8-12 students was confronted with four general research topics and provided with supporting datasets.…”

Section: A Discovery Based Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating student-centered approaches into catchment hydrology teaching: a review and synthesis

Thompson

Ngambeki

Troch

et al. 2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. As hydrologists confront the future of water resources on a globalized, resource-scarce and humanimpacted planet, the educational preparation of future generations of water scientists becomes increasingly important. Although hydrology inherits a tradition of teacher-centered direct instruction -based on lecture, reading and assignment formats -a growing body of knowledge derived from engineering education research suggests that modifications to these methods could firstly improve the quality of instruction from a student perspective, and secondly contribute to better professional preparation of hydrologists, in terms of their abilities to transfer knowledge to new contexts, to frame and solve novel problems, and to work collaboratively in uncertain environments. Here we review the theoretical background and empirical literature relating to adopting student-centered and inductive models of teaching and learning. Models of student-centered learning and their applications in engineering education are introduced by outlining the approaches used by several of the authors to introduce student-centered and inductive educational strategies into their university classrooms. Finally, the relative novelty of research on engineering instruction in general and hydrology in particular creates opportunities for new partnerships between education researchers and hydrologists to explore the discipline-specific needs of hydrology students and develop new approaches for instruction and professional preparation of hydrologists.

show abstract

Blazing New Paths for Inter disciplinary Hydrology

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Engaging the students of today and preparing the catchment hydrologists of tomorrow: student-centered approaches in hydrology education

Engaging the students of today and preparing the catchment hydrologists of tomorrow: student-centered approaches in hydrology education

Patterns, puzzles and people: implementing hydrologic synthesis

Incorporating student-centered approaches into catchment hydrology teaching: a review and synthesis

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