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Educational challenges

Olav Eldholm Professor, head of department

FORCE Seminar Feb. 13, 2008, Stavanger

Department of Earth Science

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Premise:• University education - Norway• An earth science perspective

Main challenges:• Integration• Strong basic natural science foundation• Research/project-based education• Quantitative approaches + modeling• Cooperation - national + international

Department of Earth Science

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Educational level – degree

• Bachelor (3 yr.)• Master (2 yr.)• PhD (3 yr.)

Candidate recipients

• Industry - M, P, B• Government - M, P, B • Research - P• School system - M, B

Department of Earth Science

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Challenge # 1

The-Real-World = Industry + Science

Increasingly Between-and-Acrossnot

Up-down (vertical or strictly disciplinary)

Key words:Thematic approaches, Integration

Department of Earth Science

Increasingly Between-and-Across

Outreach/profiling

Education

Technology/applications

PhD-education

Research

Cause

Effect

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Department of Earth Science

Research groups/themes

Educationalprograms

WISHFUL THINKING?

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Department of Earth Science

REAL LIFE (NORWAY)!!

Educationalprograms

Research groups/themes

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Department of Earth Science

WHO-TO-BLAME?

Teaching and education is an institutional responsibility; i.e. new tasks and responsibilities at all organizational levels – and in particular, for departments and head of departments

Quote ”My father superior”

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Challenge # 2

Provide The Right Courses(a two-way-street)

• Basic Science FoundationMathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics

• Understanding earth properties (media) - GEO

• How to find the Right Mix?

”Not only the fun courses”

Department of Earth Science

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Challenge # 3

Research/project-based education

• Field studies + analogs• State-of-the-art data and tools

Industry-standard• Team approach to problem solving

From I to We (mainly teacher challenge)• The geophysical and geological messages

Understand limitations + opportunities

Department of Earth Science

Example: Field work applying industry-standard seismic equipment

Example Statoil – UiB Earth ScienceResearch

• Sponsored projects

• Joint projects

• VISTA

Education

SVALEX

E-LEARNING INITIATIVE

• Statoil + 5 universities led by UiB

• Modernizing learning (in academia and industry)

• Promoting problem-based learning

• New: journal learningGeoscience

CANDIDATE PRODUCTION

- the first online journal for multimedia learning

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Challenge # 4

Quantitative approaches + modeling

• In all geodisciplines

• System science approach

• Understand and quantify earth processes

Department of Earth Science

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Challenge #5

Cooperation - national + international

• Semester(s) elsewhere/abroad• International networks

WUN, Mentor, BasinMaster, +++ • National university profiling

Master, PhD• National pool of spesialized petroleum courses

New PhD initiative

Department of Earth Science

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Department of Earth Science

Where to we stand? Academia vs industry (Actually – not too bad!!)

Avenues of cooperation re educational challenges• Research• Availability of data + state-of-the-art tools • Specialist teaching• Adjunct professors• Modulate upcoming retirement tsunami (”bridge” professors)• Remember:

without teaching staff – no candidates