280-8 Misson to the Planets: A Course Fulfilling a General Science Requirement Centered Around Planetary Missions

Session: Planetary Exploration and Education: How We Learn About Our Solar System and Beyond

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Abstract:

All kids love planets, dinosaurs, and rocks. By the time they reach college, students dread taking a science course. Why is this? I don’t pretend to have the answer but, I recognize this is the psyche of many of the students who enter my course. I also recognize that few if any of these students will go on to become professional planetary scientists. I don’t use a textbook but rely on NASA/ESA/JAXA videos and websites. 

I organize the course around planetary missions. Planetary mission proposals require an explanation of how the mission will address big picture science goals (usually from community consensus documents), that the questions to be addressed are well-defined, testable, and achievable using the observations/data proposed to be collected by the mission. This conforms to the traditional textbook descriptions of scientific method. (As I write this it makes me cringe because there is no single ‘scientific method.’) While those ‘in the know’ might recognize this as teaching the Science Traceability Matrix (STM), I avoid the details of the STM because even seasoned science teams don’t always get the details right. The point is to establish trust in the selection process—these will be future voters—and a framework to illustrate how the knowledge we discuss has been discovered.

I use weekly online discussion questions. These are low stakes (i.e., they don’t impact the grade much) general questions to keep the students engaged throughout the term. I generally get a better than 90% response rate, better than any in class discussion. I give full credit as long as they follow the rules, usually explaining why they responded as they did. I correct misconceptions in follow up lessons. The questions can be as general as: “what is your favorite lunar themed art?” (Unexpected answer, the #1 response for the past 10 years: “Fly me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra.) Or: “will we land on Mars in your lifetime (assume 60 years from now)?” Interestingly, until 2018 most said yes, during the pandemic, the number who said no dramatically increased. Their reasoning, not technical but lack of willingness to fund such a mission. I learn more about misconceptions and their grasp of the material from the discussion responses than any other assessment I create.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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