School talk:Marine sciences

Ideas for learning and research projects
I wanted to put this in the talk section before it goes on the main page - in accordance with the 'learning by doing' philosophy of wikiversity, I suggest that learning takes place by participation in research projects and development of a wiki-textbook for a course on the marine sciences (and for courses tailored more towards the specialised aspects represented by the constituent departments). The marine sciences school should have interdisciplinary research projects and learning materials, focusing on all aspects of the marine sciences, from the pure sciences of marine biology, chemistry and physics, to the philosophy of the field and socio-politico-economic issues to practical uses and applications of the knowledge.

Suggestions for broad research themes:


 * Interactions between the marine world and the land and atmosphere - stressing the interconnectedness of different systems on earth


 * The oceans and climate change - a mixture here of primary and secondary research, focusing on the effects of climate change on the seas and the effects of the seas on climate change


 * The impact of shipping - global shipping has increased dramatically over the past decades - project to assess the impact and how shipping can either be reduced or its impact reduced


 * The impact of economics and politics on the marine environment


 * Developing an integrated study of marine systems and society - a philosophical, economical and political project

And of course also the learning materials and community needs to be developed. I would suggest that topic modules are developed for each of the departmental disciplines (e.g. marine biology, marine chemistry etc.) and from there general marine science materials are developed by synthesising modules from different disciplines. Ideas for modules I have had (betraying my biological bias) are 'Plankton and Microbial Life', 'Energy in the seas', 'Coral Reefs and Primary Production' and 'Fisheries and Exploiting the Seas'. I would suggest that rather than spend ages trying to work out the most rational system of modules, modules develop naturally and can be modified/abolished/merged at a later date when the material is there to work with. Maybe modules explaining critical ideas from other disciplines should be present also - e.g. an 'Introducing Marine Chemistry and Physics' module for the dept. of marine biology. Maybe a large project in developing materials for a general 'History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science' course can be developed that will be of use in all science studies and some humanities as well.

Jimbobalina2005 16:08 (GMT) 2 September 2006