1. Home
  2. Course ePortfolio: Ocean Data Analysis and Presentation (ODAP)
Select to expand
Select to collapse

Course ePortfolio

Ocean Data Analysis and Presentation (ODAP)

An advanced ocean sciences course for undergraduates majoring in oceanography or the geosciences. In this course we will cover the meaning of data and the common types of oceanographic data, methods of ocean data collection, the meaning and importance of metadata, databases in ocean science community, the idea of geospatial data and the importance of frame of reference and time and space scales of interest, the variety of ways to analyze and present oceanographic data, and how to present data to maximize its informational content.  

Date Added to MERLOT:
June 30, 2022
Created by:
Robert Vaillancourt
License:
creative-commonscreative-commons by
Share

Undergraduate course in Introductory Oceanography; basic computer skills and familiarity with spreadsheet programming at a minimum.

Pedagogical Approach

At my home institution, ODAP consist of two 1 hour 50 minute periods of combined lecture and lab per week, for a total of 4 contact hours per week. (The course is worth 3 credits at Millersville University).  Since the majority of the course requires analysis and plotting of data, the 4 hr of contact time per week allows sufficient time each class period to complete the assignments, but many students also complete the assignments as homework. We believe this type of combined lecture/computer laboratory course is most effective when larger blocks of time are allotted, since data analysis can be unusually intensive and time-consuming, and students frequently encounter software glitches to overcome. Class is held in a computer lab where students will have access to shared software resources, internet resources, and on-line and local oceanographic databases.  A typical class consists of ½ hour lecture followed by laboratory period when students will work interactively with professor on assigned problem sets. Problem sets are designed to be completed during the class periods and also as homework assignments.  

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the proposed course, the successful student will have learned: 

  • how to access, search, and download data from online databases
  • the different categories and types of data and geoscience data, including the importance  of metadata
  • how to approach a scientific study within the framework of spatial and temporal scales of interest of the phenomenon
  • the basics differences and strengths of computer programs for the analysis and presentation of ocean data such as MS Excel, Ocean Data View, RStudio, and R programming language
  • how to plot and intepret time-series data using MS Excel
  • how to plot and interpret vertical ocean profiles, ocean sections, contour plots, and surface plots using Ocean Data View
  • how to perform quality control (QC) on oceanographic data
  • how to derive areal values from vertical profiles of data using trapezoidal integration techniques in MS Excel
  • how to propagate error through calcuations
  • how to apply interpolation techniques to solve problem of missing data
  • how to present results as an oral presentation, a final written paper, and as a scientific poster 

Assessment

Course grade will be determined according to the following measures of performance. ·

Class participation & attendance  - 10 pts.

Data analysis project: 2 oral presentations - 15 pts.

Data analysis project: written assignment - 15 pts.

Data analysis project: meeting poster* - 15 pts.

Weekly problem sets  -    45 pts.

TOTAL - 100  pts.

Other Information

*note:  The meeting poster is meant to be presented at a university function at the end of the semester that showcases undergraduate scholarly work. If this is not an option, then I recommend the teacher creates a replica of a poster session that as closely as possible mimics the experience of presenting a poster at a national science meeting.

Course Resources