TERRA FIRMA: METHODS OF FIELD-BASED INSTRUCTION TO SOLIDIFY GEOLOGIC CONCEPTS

Exposing students to real world geology and witnessing "the solidification" of concepts presented in lectures is one of the more gratifying experiences to most geoscience faculty members. The team at NWMSU strives to provide field-oriented opportunities to our students via an annual field trip course, lab/weekend trips associated with most major classes and a geologic field methods course. Early in the fall semester, one of the faculty team members facilitates a field trip course to an area with a geologic setting that differs from the Central Great Plains. Recent trips have included the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma, the Southern Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico and an upcoming trip to the Yellowstone/Grand Teton area exposing our students to the geologic wonders of each area using inquiry-based exercises and student-led field interpretations.

Each of us also endeavors to utilize similar approaches in many of our major courses. Examples include: 1) having students conduct a multi-lab field study to select a potential groundwater supply well location during hydrogeology; 2) a combined petrology-geomorphology weekend field trip to southeast Missouri highlighting the inter-relationships between bedrock geology and landforms induced by processes such as differential weathering and the intrusive relationship of granite plutons and diabase dikes to rhyolite; or 3) via an interpretative mapping trip to exposures of the Mid-continent Rift System of southwestern Iowa in structural geology. Projects in the field methods course, such as stream gauging, geophysical mapping, and land surveying provide opportunities for students to become familiar with field equipment and collect geologic data.