13-7 From Data to Decisions: MOSAIC Online Environmental and Engineering Geology Pathways Connecting Educators and the Workforce

Session: Building Connections Between Educators and Geoscientists to Foster the Future Workforce

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

Workforce-aligned geoscience education increasingly depends on flexible online pathways, yet environmental and engineering geology also demand place-based reasoning, quantitative analysis, and professional judgment. We present MOSAIC (Modular, Outcome-based, Stackable, Adaptive, Integrated Curriculum) as a learning-ecosystem framework for designing online geoscience programs that connect educators, students, and practicing geoscientists while tracking ecosystem health through feedback velocity, learner resilience, and reuse of modular learning assets.

We apply MOSAIC to four fully online graduate offerings at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: a 32-credit non-thesis M.S. in Environmental Geology and three 12-credit stackable graduate certificates (Environmental Geology; Engineering Geology and Subsurface Investigations; Environmental Remediation and Compliance). Stackability allows learners to earn a short, workforce-relevant credential and later ladder those credits into the M.S. Multiple entry and exit points support working professionals, geoscience educators, and career changers, while practitioner and alumni advisory input keeps competencies aligned with workforce needs (site characterization, groundwater and contaminant analysis, geotechnical interpretation, and regulatory decision-making).

To bridge critical thinking from theory to practice, MOSAIC-aligned courses center on authentic datasets and reproducible workflows using professional tools (groundwater and bioremediation modeling, Python/Jupyter notebooks). In Engineering Geology, teams analyze Chicago-area geotechnical datasets, import sensor and borehole logs into Python, and defend stability interpretations in transparent notebooks. In Hydrogeology with Python, teams develop groundwater-flow conceptual models and evaluate contaminant datasets, explicitly testing assumptions and exploring uncertainty. Students externalize reasoning with concept sketches and workflow diagrams, then exchange notebooks for structured peer review. Driver-navigator pair programming and peer mentoring turn critique into community practice: students articulate reasoning, compare methods, and revise interpretations in cycles that mirror professional technical review. Shared repositories support co-development and reuse of data labs and teaching assets.

We conclude with transferable connection patterns for building educator-geoscientist partnerships: co-developed, place-based data labs that can be reused for graduate learning, undergraduate instruction, and educator outreach; mentorship structures that link faculty, practitioners, and educators; and lightweight ecosystem-health metrics (feedback turnaround time, peer-review density, and module reuse) that guide continuous improvement. The oral presentation will include ready-to-adapt activity templates and assessment prompts that attendees can deploy to strengthen workforce pathways in their own programs.

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