This article discusses the benefits of experiencing the process of Earth Science through active learning strategies, and how a simple assessment instrument was developed and used to evaluate a specific course in Earth Science for educators. The course itself was broad in scope and designed specifically to fulfill science requirements for elementary and middle-level education majors. The assessment instrument consisted of statements to which students responded true-false or "I don't know." Based on pre- and post-course assessments of 108 education majors who took the class over a period of 5 semesters, the researchers reported an average increase in their content knowledge of 30 percent.

Adobe Acrobat reader

No cost

We encourage the reuse and dissemination of the material on this site for educational, noncommercial purposes as long as attribution is retained.

This resource is referenced by

Publisher: nagt@gordonvalley.com
National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)
Journal of Geoscience Education (JGE)
http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/index.html

Author: David C. Gosselin
Nebraska Earth Science Education Network, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of Nebraska-Lincolin