Summit on the Future on Undergraduate Geoscience Education
Working Group 5
Focus on Curriculum
1. Necessity for students to be competent in core sciences: Math, Chemistry, Physics
a. Geoscience students lack competency to even apply MCP skills in basic courses
i. How can we fix this?
ii. Simply sending students to MCP department(s) does not work
b. Integration of Core MCP skills taught in context of geoscience curriculum and course
work
i. Learn through step-by-step application in geoscience courses
ii. If courses do not emphasize MCP, students may lose skills
iii. The rule of Three: Multiple introductions in multiple courses
1. Repetition of similar concepts in different context will both emphasize
and engrain ideas so students both learn and retain
2. Need communication between courses to agree and repeat similar
concepts
2. Students enter Geoscience programs late…
a. How can students catch up on (or rather fulfill) mandatory courses and abide
appropriate time constraints?
b. Preparation at the CC level? (For transfers only)
i. Curriculum communication between feeder CC and local 4-year
c. Courses must be taken in specific order vs random depending on course offerings…
3. Geological Intuition and skills
a. How to adequately develop within time constraints (2-year minimum)
b. Agreement of desired soft skills or content specific skills by faculty
i. Collaboration of desired outcomes will help to focus and define mandatory skills
before graduation
c. Field application
i. Draws on all ‘textbook’ knowledge
ii. Direct application helps to cement common terms
iii. Train students to apply classroom concepts in a real setting
d. Critical Thinking
i. The rule of three
ii. Written analysis that moves step-by-step through scientific method
iii. Field application of classroom concepts
iv. How to break down a problem in order to investigate, learn and solve
4. Course Specific
a. Do Geoscience students need a statistics or data analysis course?
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i. Consider a Data Analysis/Statistics for Geoscientists rather than a course
through the math department – will help to give applicable examples rather
than random
b. Technical writing for Geoscientists
i. Writing is extremely important!
ii. How can students gain necessary writing skills?
1. Integrate written assignments into specialized geoscience courses
iii. Technical writing course through writing department or offer in-house technical
writing course through geoscience department
1. Professor needs to be an excellent writer to teach written skills
2. Need eligible TAs…
5. Distinction between strict course outline or professor designed syllabus
i. Courses often taught by different professors – how can we make sure different
versions of the course are teaching appropriate outcomes without constricting
teaching freedoms/creativity
ii. Design common outcomes for each course
1. Allow professor to choose path to teach designated common outcomes
iii. Follow book or use logical flow?
1. Probably don’t follow the book…
iv. Faculty education is KEY
1. How to teach
a. Often professors know how to research… not teach or relate
ideas on a basic level
2. Use backward design
6. Teaching
i. Teaching quality control
1. Pay close attention to student feedback
2. Teaching should be reviewed
a. Always look for methods and techniques for improvement
ii. Teaching methods
1. Development of teaching skills for researchers
iii. Single versus multiple professors
1. May not work in heavy, fundamental courses
a. Structure
2. Better for discussion style courses
a. Or module style courses
7. Field Courses
a. Host versus send
b. Economics
i. Cost, liability, time
ii. Cost: tuition, room and board, food
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1. Local scholarships or endowments may aid students to decrease out-ofpocket expense
2. Some issues for out-of-state (increased expense)
c. Required?
i. Often considered capstone course; culmination of all classroom education
ii. Application of textbook concepts in the field is key for overall understanding
and development of geological intuition
1. Need to see problems
iii. Sometimes difficult to require students to miss out on 6-weeks of ‘life’
1. Modern/technology-obsessed students often not as excited about field
time
iv. Offer a different degree program that would allow to not taking field camp
1. BS for field camp; BA without
v. Utilize different field course designs for large classes or scheduling problems
1. Can replacing classic 6-week field camp adequately teach geological
intuition?
d. Designs
i. Classic 6-week
1. Limited locations
a. Intimate understanding of a given area
b. Allows for concepts of a region to sink in
2. Multiple locations for short periods (constant traveling)
a. See more variety of localities
b. Not intimate within a single region
3. Allows for immersion and intensive development of skills
4. Camaraderie and bonding
ii. Dual 6-week – split in 3-week sessions
1. First 3-week session designed as general Geoscience
a. Consider application for BA or other specialties
2. Second 3-week session advanced field methods
a. Designed for BS Geoscience (BS completes both sessions)
3. Split allows for degree flexibility while also maintaining immersion and
bonding
iii. 6-weeks completed throughout degree
1. Offer several topic-specific courses with substantial field components
2. Require students to take 6-weeks throughout degree by stacking field
work from specialized courses
3. Lacks development of camaraderie on extended period field camp
iv. Module-style field camp
1. ~10 day field sessions offered once a quarter/semester
2. Locations change
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3. Same ‘course’ taken several times to equate to adequate field
experience
4. Minor immersion and bonding
e. Topic specific camps
i. Could be offered in addition to 3-week BA basic geoscience field camp
ii. Disadvantage that short/punctuated trips may not allow for concepts to sink in
iii. Integration of topic specific (seismology, hydrology, etc) segments into classic 6week may not allow concepts to fully sink in
1. Attempts to include other specialties…
iv. Data collection methods rather than classic data collection
f. Integrated field trips
i. Small trips designed to support classroom teaching
1. Integration of classroom and field help to apply concepts
ii. Course specific
iii. Potential for weekend or day trips
g. Faculty responsibility
i. Need faculty to teach field camp
1. Often don’t want to give-up their summer/research opportunities
ii. Social responsibility…
iii. Utilize alumni
8. Divisions of Geoscience
a. What divisions of geoscience are focused on in this discussion?
b. Largely classic geoscience with potential for an emphasis
c. Classic education with small specialization key
i. Room for additional specialization in graduate school or work force
9. Modern Geoscience: Transformations
a. Department shifts from Geology to Earth Science or Geoscience
i. How does this impact curriculum and student’s fundamental education?
b. Changes in objectives within a course
i. “1980’s hydrology versus 2010’s hydrology”
1. Course title remains while main topics shift
2. What topics should be emphasized?
c. Combining courses
i. “mineralogy + petrology + optical mineralogy = earth materials”
1. Advantageous? Mixed emotions
2. Lose strength of fundamental concepts and geological intuition
3. Opens schedule for additional specialization electives
ii. Combining lab and lecture
1. Idea focuses on working through problem solving material in lecture so
lab can be removed
2. May not be applicable for all courses
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3. Would this method adequately teach concepts in a course like
structure?
4. Potential idea if lack of TAs
d. Including new ideas within a classic course
i. Structure
1. Use glacial or climate examples?
2. Attempt to incorporate elective themes or emphases within a classic
topic
ii. Incorporation of relevant topics in traditional courses
iii. Including societally relevant examples in classic courses
1. New applications
2. Emphasize broader implications
e. Short courses
i. Department can’t add additional mandatory courses or lacks teaching staff
ii. Utilize several day short course
1. Contract educator (industry)
2. In-house professor
iii. Can be used for elective or mandatory geoscience courses
1. Allows for more topics and skill building without taking up the time of a
standard course
iv. Is a short course long enough to adequately fulfill teaching topic’s skill set
1. Enough time to sink in?
2. Or will it just disappear after course is over?
f. New topics to incorporate
i. GIS, climate, earth modeling
1. Should these be mandatory or elective?
g. Determination of what courses and skills are mandatory and what can be considered
optional
i. Additional debate required
10. Modern Geoscience: Hook, Line, Sinker
a. Intro level courses to attract new undergrads
i. Dinosaurs, Film and Geology, Natural Catastrophes, Oceanography
ii. Short non-geologist field course (1 weekend)
b. Societal relevance may attract new students
11. Challenges with mixed student demographic
a. How to teach concepts of structure to geologists and engineers?
b. Multi-disciplinary teaching methods
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