Cite abstracts as Author(s) (2008), Title, Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract xxxxx-xx
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manduca
rrently face. Building on past workshops in this series, participants will help shape the focus of the
workshop to meet their needs in areas such as curriculum, assessment, programming, recruitment, or
management. A goal of this workshop is to put into broader use the wealth of examples and ideas
documented on the project website.
UR: http://serc.carleton.edu/departments/index.html
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
HR: 0800h
AN: ED31A-0578
TI: Teaching Introductory Geoscience: A Cutting Edge Workshop Report
AU: * Manduca, C
EM: cmanduca@carleton.edu
AF: Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, 1 North College St., Northfield, MN 55057, United States
AU: Tewksbury, B
EM: btewksbu@hamilton.edu
AF: Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323, United States
AU: Egger, A
EM: annegger@stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
AU: Macdonald, H
EM: rhmacd@wm.edu
AF: College of William and Mary, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187, United States
AU: Kirk, K
EM: kkirk@carleton.edu
AF: Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, 1 North College St., Northfield, MN 55057, United States
AB:
Introductory undergraduate courses play a pivotal role in the geosciences. They serve as recruiting grounds
for majors and future professionals, provide relevant experiences in geoscience for pre-service teachers,
and offer opportunities to influence future policy makers, business people, professionals, and citizens. An
introductory course is also typically the only course in geoscience that most of our students will ever take.
Because the role of introductory courses is pivotal in geoscience education, a workshop on Teaching
Introductory Courses in the 21st Century was held in July 2008 as part of the On the Cutting Edge faculty
development program. A website was also developed in conjunction with the workshop.
One of the central themes of the workshop was the importance of considering the long-term impact a course
should have on students. Ideally, courses can be designed with this impact in mind. Approaches include
using the local geology to focus the course and illustrate concepts; designing a course for particular
audience (such as Geology for Engineers); creating course features that help students understand and
interpret geoscience in the news; and developing capstone projects to teach critical thinking and problem
solving skills in a geologic context. Workshop participants also explored strategies for designing engaging
activities including exploring with Google Earth, using real-world scenarios, connecting with popular media, or
making use of campus features on local field trips. In addition, introductory courses can emphasize broad
skills such as teaching the process of science, using quantitative reasoning and developing communication
skills.
Materials from the workshop as well as descriptions of more than
