This article examines the effects of a program involving authentic research on the participants' interest in research, career plans, and attitudes on science. The findings are from the first year of a three-year program funded by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. In three out of four projects, participants increased their interest in research, with two-thirds ... Full description.

This article describes the Earth System Scientist Network, in which students and teachers participate in research projects with scientists. In these projects the scientists can take advantage of having an extended research team, and the students and teachers can contribute to a research project while developing skills in inquiry and expanding content knowledge in Earth system science. Several issues ... Full description.

This article provides an overview of the Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science (CATTS) program and the conditions necessary to establish and maintain partnerships that promote inquiry and research in schools. These programs are effective because they benefit all stakeholders. CATTS creates opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students (the CATTS Fellows) to learn effective ... Full description.

This study describes the goals, features and effectiveness of a digital interactive tutorial which was created to provide undergraduates a 'virtual microscope' resource for learning sandstone petrology. The goal of the tutorial is to provide students exposure to the highly visual subject matter of petrography outside the confines of organized laboratory exercises. The hope is that widespread use of ... Full description.

This paper examines the implications of an unplanned experiment in which a high-school level earth science curriculum was presented to college juniors and seniors. The study confirmed the difficulty of a science that has traditionally been viewed as one of the least challenging options at the college level. It showed that most people arrive at college with little or no prior knowledge in the geosciences, ... Full description.

This article reports on the effectiveness of The Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) project, which was developed to make geology more relevant to non-science majors in Appalachian State University's Environmental and Applied Geology course. The authors describe the directed-inquiry approach, in which students are guided in applying the geoscience theory learned in the formal classroom setting to ... Full description.

Students in introductory science courses frequently have difficulty comprehending complex graphics such as contour maps. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI), because of its ability to convey the same information in different formats, may help students gain necessary graphic interpretation skills. This article describes a research project in which students practiced reading two temperature maps in ... Full description.

Researchers categorized over one hundred print and web resources that use food to demonstrate earth science concepts. This article describes their findings: food-based activities are found in print and web-based resources with nearly equal frequency; most feature geologic themes; most are designed for primary and middle school audiences, but can be adapted for older students; and most of these activities ... Full description.

"Scrapbooking" is a popular hobby and as such, has found its way into educational settings, primarily in middle and elementary school levels. This article describes a scrapbook project that is used both as a means of demonstrating the connections between geology and students' daily lives and as an alternative form of assessment. The project was developed for an introductory Earth Science class for ... Full description.

This article describes the use of service-learning practice in geoscience courses taught at the University of Connecticut. The stated objectives for instituting this practice are: to foster student interest in earth sciences through community service; to enhance university outreach through interactions with communities; to enhance students' learning ability by applying course knowledge to real-world ... Full description.