STUDIO CLASSROOM AND STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING IN TRADITIONALLY ISOLATIONIST GEOLOGY MICROSCOPY COURSES

The concept of a studio classroom has different definitions depending on the discipline involved. Despite the variations in this working definition there are themes important to incorporate in course objectives for all studio classrooms. The most important aspect of studio teaching is the switch from the traditional formal lecture format to cooperative/collaborative learning while maintaining individual accountability. Studio teaching results in the instructor acting more as a facilitator than a lecturer and students often teaching students.

Many courses in the Geology curriculum (mineralogy, petrology, sedimentology, structure, paleontology) utilize petrographic microscopes as tools to examine and identify rocks, minerals, fossils, and their textures. Traditional petrographic microscopes promote active learning, but not interactive learning as students are forced into the isolation of their microscope. In order to achieve a microscopy studio classroom, not only does the layout of the classroom need to change but the equipment of traditional microscopy labs (microscopes etc.) also needs to be redesigned. A grant from the NSF CCLI program has introduced digital workstations featuring a petrographic microscope and digital camera for image capture and also live video feed to a TV monitor allowing students to work in groups and simultaneously view thin sections. With these workstations, the silence of the microscopy lab is replaced with animated discussion and debate among students as they work together. Slight modification of previously existing labs in mineralogy and petrology results in studio style learning and often in the students teaching each other. Based on students’ surveys, the perception of how important group learning is for their education increased 63% from the beginning to the end of mineralogy, their first encounter with these microscopes. Test scores on lecture and lab exams increased significantly compared to years taught without these microscopes. While a minimal amount of course content needs to be removed from the syllabus in order to accommodate the slightly longer projects and assignments in the studio classroom, the learning and critical thinking skills acquired by the students far outweigh the additional information they may have passively acquired during a formal lecture.