HR: 10:35h
AN: ED42A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: A project-based geoscience curriculum: select examples
AU: Brown, L M
AF: Lake Superior State University, Department of Geology, 650 West Easterday Ave., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, United States
AU: Kelso, P R
AF: Lake Superior State University, Department of Geology, 650 West Easterday Ave., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, United States
AU: * White, R J
AF: Lake Superior State University, Department of Geology, 650 West Easterday Ave., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, United States
AU: Rexroad, C B
AF: Indiana Geological Survey, 611 N. Walnut Grove, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States
AB: Principles of constructivist educational philosophy serve as a foundation for the recently completed National Science Foundation sponsored undergraduate curricular revision undertaken by the Geology Department of Lake Superior State University. We integrate lecture and laboratory sessions utilizing active learning strategies that focus on real-world geoscience experiences and problems. In this presentation, we discuss details of three research-like projects that require students to access original data, process and model the data using appropriate geological software, interpret and defend results, and disseminate results in reports, posters, and class presentations. The projects are from three upper division courses, Carbonate Systems, Sequence Stratigraphy, and Geophysical Systems, where teams of two to four students are presented with defined problems of durations ranging from a few weeks to an entire semester. Project goals and location, some background information, and specified dates and expectations for interim and final written and oral reports are provided to students. Some projects require the entire class to work on one data set, some require each team to be initially responsible for a portion of the project with teams ultimately merging data for interpretation and to arrive at final conclusions. Some projects require students to utilize data from appropriate geological web sites such as state geological surveys. Others require students to design surveys and utilize appropriate instruments of their choice for field data collection. Students learn usage and applications of appropriate geological software in compiling, processing, modeling, and interpreting data and preparing formal reports and presentations. Students uniformly report heightened interest and motivation when engaged in these projects. Our new curriculum has resulted in an increase in students" quantitative and interpretive skills along with dramatic improvement in communication and interpersonal skills related to group dynamics.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting