Hydrology education in a changing world
Hydrology education in a changing world
Editor(s): J. Seibert, S. Uhlenbrook, and T. Wagener Overview paper
Teaching hydrology, at undergraduate level, graduate level and in a life-long learning context, has always been a challenge for educators (Nash et al., 1990), and many of the problems still remain (Wagener et al., 2007). Challenging aspects include the heterogeneity of the entities we study and of the students we teach. Students entering hydrology programs come from both engineering and science backgrounds with very different education foci and strengths as well as weaknesses. The educational system that supports the teaching of hydrology must undergo a paradigm shift away from the current practice of imparting a narrow set of basic concepts and a disciplinary set of skills to engineers and scientists with little considerations for the real needs of the area of hydrology, especially when considering the increasing impacts of global environmental change (Wagener et al., 2010). How do we balance the need for hydrology students to have strong disciplinary skills in basic subjects (like maths, physics, soil science) (Kavetski and Clark, 2011), with field and laboratory work (Nash et al., 1990; Kleinhans et al., 2010), while also developing the higher level skills of connecting across disciplines and across places? Given the great complexity of the water problems society faces in a changing world, the teaching of hydrology must adopt a more integrated view of the role of water in the natural and build-environment around us.

These issues call for the teaching of new skill sets, including the ability to read, interpret, and learn from patterns in the landscape; comparative studies to supplement place-based studies; learning through case studies; understanding the time-varying characteristics of hydrological systems, use of space for time substitutions; and modeling of interacting processes such as human-nature interactions and feedbacks. Above all, the new generation of hydrologists must be trained to become both analysts and synthesists. This will inevitably require dissolution of the historical separation between science and engineering in our approach to hydrology education. Teaching methods should be rooted in the scientific and quantitative understanding of hydrologic processes, providing flexible hydrologic problem-solving skills that can evolve if new insights become available, and which can be adapted to provide solutions for new problems and to understand new phenomena. Our hydrology textbooks generally do not contain in-depth treatments of how to predict the hydrologic response after changes in climate, degree in urbanization or land cover have occurred, despite the fact that such predictions will be fundamental for future research and practical hydrological applications. So, how should we teach that, considering that the methods for such prediction are subject to a current scientific debate, and, where is the teaching material coming from?

This special issue aims at addressing these challenges in hydrology education and will include both papers on general issues, such as the hydrological curriculum and professional competences required for the hydrologists of tomorrow, and experiences from concrete teaching approaches. Questions addressed in this special issue on education in hydrology include:

- How do we integrate quantitative and qualitative aspects of hydrology into a holistic approach to hydrology education?
- How does hydrology, and therefore hydrology education, change in a changing world?
- What constitutes a strong hydrology skill set that can evolve to study new phenomena and to solve new problems?
- What are the knowledge gaps we have to fill for teaching hydrology in a changing world?
- How much do hydrologists need to learn about different topics?
- Where do they have to be specialists and where can they be generalists?
- How do we balance place-based versus studies across gradients, numerical rigor versus lab-field experience, problem solving versus scientific inquiry etc.?
- How should field trips be designed for best learning experiences?
- Which new ideas are available for supporting student learning and understanding of hydrological systems? (lab experiments, exercises, …)
- How can continuing education support the life-long learning of hydrologists?
- What set of skills and competencies do hydrologists need to have to be effective in a changing and increasing complex world?
- How can we support the education of hydrologists in less developed countries, which are most vulnerable to environmental change, but who have the least resources for training and capacity building?

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11 Apr 2013
Preface "Hydrology education in a changing world"
J. Seibert, S. Uhlenbrook, and T. Wagener
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1393–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1393-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1393-2013, 2013
24 May 2013
Teaching groundwater flow processes: connecting lecture to practical and field classes
V. Hakoun, N. Mazzilli, S. Pistre, and H. Jourde
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1975–1984, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1975-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1975-2013, 2013
27 Feb 2013
Assessing student understanding of physical hydrology
J. A. Marshall, A. J. Castillo, and M. B. Cardenas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 829–836, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-829-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-829-2013, 2013
22 Jan 2013
Training hydrologists to be ecohydrologists: a "how-you-can-do-it" example leveraging an active learning environment for studying plant–water interaction
S. W. Lyon, M. T. Walter, E. J. Jantze, and J. A. Archibald
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 269–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-269-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-269-2013, 2013
06 Nov 2012
Reframing hydrology education to solve coupled human and environmental problems
E. G. King, F. C. O'Donnell, and K. K. Caylor
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 4023–4031, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-4023-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-4023-2012, 2012
01 Feb 2013
An educational model for ensemble streamflow simulation and uncertainty analysis
A. AghaKouchak, N. Nakhjiri, and E. Habib
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 445–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-445-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-445-2013, 2013
17 Sep 2012
Teaching hydrological modeling with a user-friendly catchment-runoff-model software package
J. Seibert and M. J. P. Vis
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3315–3325, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3315-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3315-2012, 2012
03 Sep 2012
Physical models for classroom teaching in hydrology
A. Rodhe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3075–3082, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3075-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3075-2012, 2012
07 Sep 2012
Enhancing capacities of riparian professionals to address and resolve transboundary issues in international river basins: experiences from the Lower Mekong River Basin
W. Douven, M. L. Mul, B. Fernández-Álvarez, S. Lam Hung, N. Bakker, G. Radosevich, and P. van der Zaag
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3183–3197, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3183-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3183-2012, 2012
14 Nov 2012
A regional and multi-faceted approach to postgraduate water education – the WaterNet experience in Southern Africa
L. Jonker, P. van der Zaag, B. Gumbo, J. Rockström, D. Love, and H. H. G. Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 4225–4232, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-4225-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-4225-2012, 2012
16 Aug 2012
Water management simulation games and the construction of knowledge
M. Rusca, J. Heun, and K. Schwartz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2749–2757, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2749-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2749-2012, 2012
01 Oct 2012
T-shaped competency profile for water professionals of the future
S. Uhlenbrook and E. de Jong
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3475–3483, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3475-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3475-2012, 2012
17 Oct 2012
On teaching styles of water educators and the impact of didactic training
A. Pathirana, J. H. Koster, E. de Jong, and S. Uhlenbrook
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3677–3688, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3677-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3677-2012, 2012
02 Aug 2012
Moving university hydrology education forward with community-based geoinformatics, data and modeling resources
V. Merwade and B. L. Ruddell
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2393–2404, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2393-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2393-2012, 2012
24 Oct 2012
HydroViz: design and evaluation of a Web-based tool for improving hydrology education
E. Habib, Y. Ma, D. Williams, H. O. Sharif, and F. Hossain
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3767–3781, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3767-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3767-2012, 2012
06 Aug 2012
Web 2.0 collaboration tool to support student research in hydrology – an opinion
A. Pathirana, B. Gersonius, and M. Radhakrishnan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2499–2509, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2499-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2499-2012, 2012
21 Sep 2012
It takes a community to raise a hydrologist: the Modular Curriculum for Hydrologic Advancement (MOCHA)
T. Wagener, C. Kelleher, M. Weiler, B. McGlynn, M. Gooseff, L. Marshall, T. Meixner, K. McGuire, S. Gregg, P. Sharma, and S. Zappe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3405–3418, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3405-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3405-2012, 2012
06 Aug 2012
Irrigania – a web-based game about sharing water resources
J. Seibert and M. J. P. Vis
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2523–2530, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2523-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2523-2012, 2012
27 Aug 2012
Computer-supported games and role plays in teaching water management
A. Y. Hoekstra
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2985–2994, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2985-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2985-2012, 2012
10 May 2012
Addressing secondary school students' everyday ideas about freshwater springs in order to develop an instructional tool to promote conceptual reconstruction
S. Reinfried, S. Tempelmann, and U. Aeschbacher
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 1365–1377, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1365-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1365-2012, 2012
22 Jun 2012
Training hydrologists to be ecohydrologists and play a leading role in environmental problem solving
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 1685–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1685-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1685-2012, 2012
01 Nov 2012
Experiences from online and classroom education in hydroinformatics
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3935–3944, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3935-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3935-2012, 2012
18 Jul 2012
Teaching hydrogeology: a review of current practice
T. Gleeson, D. M. Allen, and G. Ferguson
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2159–2168, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2159-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2159-2012, 2012
13 Sep 2012
Incorporating student-centered approaches into catchment hydrology teaching: a review and synthesis
S. E. Thompson, I. Ngambeki, P. A. Troch, M. Sivapalan, and D. Evangelou
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 3263–3278, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3263-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-3263-2012, 2012
30 Jul 2012
Competence formation and post-graduate education in the public water sector in Indonesia
J. M. Kaspersma, G. J. Alaerts, and J. H. Slinger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2379–2392, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2379-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2379-2012, 2012
03 May 2012
Using comparative analysis to teach about the nature of nonstationarity in future flood predictions
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 1269–1279, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1269-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1269-2012, 2012
03 May 2012
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 1281–1286, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1281-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1281-2012, 2012
19 Mar 2012
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 861–871, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-861-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-861-2012, 2012
13 Feb 2012
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 457–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-457-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-457-2012, 2012
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