The best of both worlds: Multidisciplinary collaborative initiatives for the improvement of volcanology higher education

Globally, there is a wealth of education knowledge and expertise that supports evidence-based learning and teaching practice across disciplines, levels (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary), and settings (i.e., informal and formal education). Within the earth sciences, there is a vibrant community of discipline-based education researchers who specialise in how we learn and teach about the Earth. Our team has worked to increase the application of evidence-based pedagogies through meaningful partnerships between education researchers and volcanologists. We found that experts in volcanology bring tacit and volcanological content knowledge, technical and cognitive capabilities, learning objectives and outcomes, and history of the discipline. While education specialists bring knowledge of how people learn, improving and maintaining student engagement, motivations for learning, pedagogies that address common learning barriers and supports and strategies for incorporating technology in the classroom and field.

Here, we highlight initiatives from the Geoscience Education Research Group (University of Canterbury, New Zealand). We include examples of successful curricula grounded in education and volcano expertise (e.g., eruption simulations, volcanology and journalism, volcanic hazards and emergency management). For example, our work with eruption simulations has led to increased graduate competency and experience in communication skills who now hold roles in national science agencies and emergency management sectors. Additionally, several key learning experiences have helped to forge strong relationships between media, journalists, our staff and graduates. In this way, we have developed a strong volcanology learning and teaching community at our institution and those of our affiliated partners, which has resulted in educational grants, teaching awards, and the convening of national and international symposia in geoscience education. Through these examples, and others, we highlight the value of an evidence-based approach to teaching and how crossing disciplinary boundaries has enhanced our learning and teaching practice and contributed to academic and public communities here in New Zealand.