Educating geological educators

Geological Society of America Special Papers, 2009

Field education has historically occupied a central role in undergraduate geoscience curricula, often starting with classspecifi c weekend fi eld trips and progressing to a capstone summer fi eld course or "camp" at the conclusion of undergraduate coursework. Over the past century, countless geoscience students have honed their fi eld credentials through immersion in the techniques of geologic fi eld mapping as part of a sixto eight-week summer fi eld course. Traditionally, fi eld camp has been required for graduation by many college geoscience departments, and nearly 100 fi eld camps are currently offered by accredited American universities and colleges ). However, many geoscience programs in the past few decades have moved away from traditional geologic fi eldwork (e.g., bedrock mapping and stratigraphic analysis) and toward applied geology (geophysical remote sensing, laboratorybased geochemical analyses, and environmental assessment, to highlight a few examples). As a result, many geoscience programs have questioned the importance of fi eld instruction in the undergraduate curriculum AGI, 2006). This volume resulted from a cascade of meetings, fi eld forums, and conference sessions that focused on the supposed decline of the importance of fi eld geology, and the apparent erosion of fi eld experience in recently graduated geoscience students, as perceived by many professionals.

Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2019

Earth Science and Geography teacher preparation has developed to some degree along different lines, despite sharing many of the same issues, especially with regard to challenges in teacher education. The conference "International Perspectives on Geography and Earth Science Teacher Education 2016" wanted to bring together educators from both sciences from around the world together to move the debate about these challenges forward. From the research presentations and the discussion during and after the conference, several issues emerged: (1) the importance of the two subjects not losing sight of each other; (2) the need to overcome language barriers; (3) the question of standards/objectives for geography teacher education (e.g. with regard to teachers' (P)CK); (4) media used in teacher education (including ways to improve them); (5) ways to improve learners' geography and earth science content knowledge; and (6) strategies to increase teachers' professionalism. We already suggest some specific steps teacher educators in the two fields can take to improve teacher education. Yet, it also became clear that more research and strengthening international collaborations are needed, as well as better communication of the results of these efforts to practitioners.

Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 2009

Journal of Geoscience Education, 2011

The Paleo Exploration Project was a professional development program for K-12 teachers from rural eastern Montana. The curriculum was designed to incorporate geospatial technologies, including Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and total station laser surveying, with authentic field experiences in geology and paleontology in an effort to enhance teachers' abilities to incorporate geospatial technologies and inquiry-based approaches into their classrooms. The program included preparatory weekend workshops for teachers and week-long summer research institutes for teachers and students, in which core geosciences skills were practiced in the field. These skills included (1) geology-related spatial visualization, (2) understanding absolute geologic time, including the concepts of physical and temporal correlation of stratigraphic units, (3) actualistic thinking, or the ability to interpret ancient environments through comparison with modern ones, (4) geological field strategies and techniques, and (5) scientific reasoning. Teachers responded very positively to the program, and nearly all went on to create, implement, and enhance their own technology-embedded, inquiry-based projects with their own students over the following two years. Intense preparation for the field experience, including building teacher content knowledge, technology skills, and field techniques, as well as the field-based approach, combining GIS as a visualization tool with field-based examination of geologic features, metacognitive reflection, and working with students in the field, were considered key elements of the program's success.

2018

The U.S. National Research Council has called on the science education community to conduct further studies on how informal learning complements the formal classroom environment. Responding to this research need, we are developing, testing, and studying new instructional materials that integrate informal, field-based science learning into elementary teacher education. Us-ing EarthCaching as a model for teaching geosciences, the project team has developed an introductory module and seven field-based EarthCaching activities that connect to the earth and space science core ideas described in the Next Generation Science Standards. The materials are aimed at pre-service elementary teachers; however, they are appropriate for use with early child-hood and special education majors. To date we have piloted the materials over four semesters, gathering feedback through fo-cus groups to inform iterative revisions. Through the redesign process, the team has identified a set of preliminary design...

In this article, the students teachers’ opinions, including rock formation and improper terms related to or diff erent from these ideas, all of which are considered or must be considered in geology classes, have been analyzed. Alternative conception is used to inform our understanding of students teachers’ ideas and describe any conceptual diffi culties which are diff erent from or inconsistent with the accepted scientifi c defi nition. Th e sample consists of 24 student teachers. We have stated that most student teachers have diff erent alternative conceptions in mind even though they have previously followed one undergraduate Earth Sciences course. In order to explain the student teachers alternatives conceptions regarding rock formation, four basic unconscious beliefs have been discovered and described from the results of the analyses. Th ese four beliefs, defi ned as: Rock - Scales of Space and Time - Stable Earth - Human Intervention, are used with the purpose of explaining the considered database outputs and alternative conceptions.

Journal of Geoscience Education

Effective instruction hinges in part on understanding what prior knowledge students bring to the classroom, and on evaluating how this knowledge changes during instruction. In many disciplines, multiple-choice tests have been developed to gauge student prior knowledge and assess learning. In this study, a 15-item version of the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) was used to assess the prior knowledge and learning of students enrolled in an introductory physical and historical geology course specifically designed for preservice elementary (K-8) teachers. Gains (pretest to posttest) among participants (n = 122) averaged 4%, similar to gains reported elsewhere. However, gains among participants enrolled in revised course sections (n = 84) averaged 7-8%. Detailed analysis shows that statistically significant gains occurred on test items related to geologic time, earthquakes, radiometric dating, and tectonics. Items for which the greatest gains were observed correlate with teaching metho...

2003

... HALL, Frank 1 , BUXTON, Cory 2 , and THOMPSON, Wendell 1 , (1) Geology & Geophysics, Univ of New Orleans, 2000 Lakeshore Dr, New ... and teaching field experiences to local schools provide these future teachers the opportunity to both learn and practice their craft prior to ...

2000

Journal of Geoscience Education, 2020

Community colleges are a major entry point for many students to post-secondary education, particularly for minority, first-generation, low-income, and older students. A range of factors including transfer-readiness, curricular alignment, financial barriers, and transfer guidance, influence successful transfer between two-year colleges (2YCs) and four-year colleges and universities (4YCs). One critical factor related to transfer-readiness may be the degree to which students have similar experiences in the development of key skills in their introductory courses. This study uses the 2016 National Geoscience Faculty Survey to compare self-reported teaching practices used by instructors in introductory geoscience courses that support the development of students' quantitative, data analysis, problem-based, communication, and metacognitive skills in 2YCs and 4YCs. Based on responses of 1,027 instructors (238 in 2YCs and 789 in 4YCs), a majority of the teaching practices in skills development in 2YCs are similar to those in 4YCs. Of the 24 teaching practices analyzed, seven displayed statistically significant differences after accounting for class size and active class time, however, the logistic models do not predict major differences between 2YCs and 4YCs. The findings of this study may serve to initiate discussions and collaborations between 2YCs and 4YCs, which could strengthen the transfer process and reduce challenges for transfer students.

2000

2002

This paper examines our attempts to assist intermediate grade pre-service and in-service teachers (grades 2 -5) and their students as they worked to implement best practices for teaching science concepts and processes. Fundamental to our approach was the integration of computer and multimedia technologies and hands-on activities grounded in standards from national science organizations, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the International Society for Technology in Education. We report on observational data from several classroom sites in a low performing urban elementary school where attempts have been make to provide a high level of technology integration and teaching support where such technology and support were not previously available. Two vignettes highlight both promising features and continued frustrations in our teachers' attempts to implement rich and relevant computer assisted science teaching. For example, when given intensive support from university personnel, teachers and students in this setting readily engaged in computer-based data collection and analysis of local environmental issues. Despite teachers' desire to integrate computer technology into their science instruction, they also struggled to discover which uses of this technology would and would not be viewed as personally relevant by their academically low performing urban grade school students. Additionally, when the intensive university presence was removed, the teachers did little to continue to use the available technology in ways that were aligned with the standards. These findings raise additional questions regarding the kinds of support needed to promote technology-rich and standards-based teaching in under-resourced urban schools.

Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, 2011

Earth-Science Reviews, 2008

Several developments cause that field practice of students becomes minimized in most countries. The most important reasons are, direct or indirect, financial short-sightedness, an ever increasing population pressure, vandalism, and counterproductive legislature. The diminishing field experience forms a threat for the capability of future generations of earth scientists to optimize exploration of all kinds of natural resources, thus also threatening society. As it is unlikely that the present-day tendency of diminishing availability of excursion points and areas for field work will come to an end, measures should be taken timely to preserve sites that are of educational (or scientific) value. National measures and international cooperation aimed at preserving our geological heritage, like realized already in, for instance, the US by the National Park Service and in Europe by ProGeo, form a step in the good direction. Dependency on such preserves will, however, change the education of earth scientists fundamentally. However unfortunate such a development may be, it is better than a future where geological education becomes impossible because essential parts of our geological heritage have been lost forever.