STUDENT PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES IN UNDERGRADUATE SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY CLASSES

The joint goals of making a class as enjoyable and engaging as possible, while effectively teaching course content, can be made more attainable by incorporating student participation activities into the class. While lab exercises, research projects, and fieldtrips are traditionally employed, there are other strategies that can be used to supplement and improve class ‘lecture' time, as well. The benefits and potential pitfalls of several such activities that were used by the author in teaching an undergraduate sedimentary geology course for the first time will be presented.

Peer-teaching activities included “5-minute expert” presentations, rubrics for peer-evaluation, and partnering students with previous petrographic microscope experience with those who had no experience in that area. Various games were used to help students better learn and review course material. Student opinion polls gave students the chance to help determine topics to be covered and give feedback about what was working and what was not. In addition to making class more lively and fun for both the instructor and the students, these activities improved students' oral presentation skills, forced students to stay alert in class, encouraged studying, necessitated research beyond textbook material, allowed students to explore subjects of interest to them in greater detail, and gave them a greater feeling of ownership about the course.