Spotlight: Seeking Solutions​

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Designated a Clean Air Campus

Researchers Say ​an 1800s Global Famine Could Happen Again

Installing GPS in Myanmar to Study Earthquakes

The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen up Close

Open House Highlights

Honoring Lamont Educator Margie Turrin

On October 25, the Hudson River Environmental Society presented their Outstanding Educator Award to Margie Turrin, Lamont’s Director of Educational Field Programs. The award honors the many science education programs Turrin has designed and executed to engage diverse audiences, from K-12 students to undergraduates and the general public. One of Turrin’s signature programs is the Day in the Life of the Hudson River, an annual event organized in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and now in its sixteenth year. The program has reached close to 6000 students and educators this year, from communities throughout the estuary region. Under Turrin’s direction, participants drew samples, shared data, and learned about this important resource in our community. Congratulations to Margie! 

Lamont Education​: Examining the Art and Science of Asking Questions

by Margie Turrin

From our earliest years, humans are curious, seeking to understand the world around us through a seemingly endless stream of questions. Asking questions is an essential skill, one that lies at the very core of the scientific process, guiding the direction and focus of our work. This skill has been recognized in science education through the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, which positions “asking questions” as first in a list of eight science practices.

Here at Lamont we have a long history of using questions about data to push forward our studies, our discussions, and our research directions. As part of the Polar Learning and Responding project (https://thepolarhub.org), a Climate Change Education Partnership, we explored the questions asked by undergraduate students as they explored the data maps in the Polar Explorer: Sea Level app (www.polar-explorer.org). Led by Special Research Scientist Kim Kastens, a team of Lamont and Teachers College researchers looked at the number, nature, and quality of questions students ask under different conditions. The map data included both physical and social science data pertaining to sea level rise and climate change.

On the basis of the questions that students asked, we developed a taxonomy of questions, and then assigned cognitive levels to each question type. An example of a question at a low cognitive level is “What does it mean when the ocean gets more and more red?” In contrast, “What is causing this increase in heat to be so spread out, instead of being confined near the equator?” was classified at the highest cognitive level, because it required the student to draw on a mental model and identify an apparent discrepancy between the model and the data. With taxonomy and cognitive levels established, the study then went on to look at how students’ questions differed when elicited by different prompts, while viewing different map sets, and while accessing the data statically versus interactively.

From our findings and a review of the literature, we provide the following recommendations:

For educators:

·  Purposefully assign opportunities for students to formulate questions around data.

·  Model the process of building from the simplest “please explain” level of questioning to the highest and most generative “departure from model” level of questioning.

For students:

·  Ask questions, lots of questions.

·  Avoid self-censoring your questions. In our study, the students who asked the most questions also asked the most high-level questions.

·  Pay attention to what questions excite the scientists around you, as studying their reactions will help you to hone your own questions.

Lamont in the Media