This article points out that many content- or skill-based labs can be revised to explicitly involve the scientific method by asking students to propose hypotheses before making observations. Labs in which this method has been successfully applied include skill-building labs such as topographic map labs, content-based labs involving experiments with models, and field labs. Because these labs force ... Full description.

During the summer of 1999, a new type of field course was taught in five of eastern Utah's National Parks and Monuments. It targeted a combination of university undergraduates and K-12 teachers, emphasized development of participants' problem-solving skills, and assessed the effectiveness of several non-traditional teaching methods. The course's primary goal was to teach participants to develop and ... Full description.

This report raises the question of whether accreditation may be coming to the geology discipline, and attempts to quantify the positions on accreditation of academic department heads/chairs. The study makes a distinction between institutional and specialized (or disciplinary) accreditation and explores attitudes toward both types. Results of the analysis are presented with a discussion of two methods ... Full description.

Geologists have long recognized the value of field trips, and the National Science Education Standards recommend them for K-8 science curricula. However, many teachers avoid running field trips. This article presents the results of a series of summer institutes for urban geoscience teachers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in which field and laboratory activities were developed in the context of local geology ... Full description.

Little is known about how well GIS-based learning lives up to its potential for improving students' skills in problem solving, analysis, and spatial visualization. This article describes a study in which researchers determined ways to quantify student learning that occurred with a GIS-based module on plate tectonics and geologic hazards, and to improve the materials design with the use of classroom ... Full description.

This article describes the methods and results of an assessment of students' scientific writing. The study was conducted in an introductory oceanography course in a large public university that used an interactive CD-ROM entitled, "Our Dynamic Planet." The CD provided students with geological data, which they used to build written arguments regarding plate tectonics. Twenty-four student papers from ... Full description.

This article describes a study in which data on exam performances and attitudes toward the use of technology were collected from large enrollment, entry-level Geoscience courses over a span of seven semesters. The data were examined to determine if the use of computers as a presentation tool and the incorporation of the internet as a means to give students increased exposure to course content (notes) ... Full description.

Educational research findings suggest that instructors can foster the growth of thinking skills and promote science literacy by incorporating active learning strategies into the classroom. This paper describes a variety of such strategies that may be adopted in introductory geology courses to encourage the development of higher-order thinking skills, and provides directions for implementing these ... Full description.

Researchers surveyed repeat attendees in a geology professional development program known as RockCamp in order to determine the reasons for their sustained involvement in this program. This article describes their findings, which suggest that the teachers' sustained involvement in the RockCamp Program is stimulated by situated learning experiences stressing a compare, contrast, connect, and construct ... Full description.

This article describes the use of Dynamic Digital Maps (DDMs) in undergraduate petrology courses. A DDM is a stand-alone computer program that presents interactive geologic maps, digital images, movies, animations, text and data. DDMs were developed for use in two undergraduate research projects, and impacts on student learning were evaluated by administering assessments on students before and after ... Full description.