COMBINING TECHNOLOGY, GROUP LEARNING, HANDS-ON ACTIVIITES AND MULTIMEDIA TO PROMOTE ACTIVE LEARNING IN LARGE ENROLLMENT GEOSCIENCE COURSES

Physical Geology is an introductory course with 180-200 students/semester. To integrate its lecture, lab and reading parts and create an active learning environment, we have combined group learning, hands-on lab activities, the Web and digital multimedia to produce 3-week learning modules focused on different topics. In the first week, a topic is introduced by assigned reading accompanied by a Web reading questionnaire. After online grading, students review their corrected questionnaires. Week 2 has students in lab working in groups of 4-5 at workstations with dedicated computers. Labs combine hands-on activities and Web multimedia supplemented with online tasks and external links. Each student group submits a single lab report, which is graded and returned the following week. Because a group can redo and resubmit the lab, students can correct their misunderstandings. In week 3, the topic is covered in lecture where we address problems identified by the questionnaires and during labs or explore a topic's societal impact. Students apply the concepts they learned in an interactive and instructor-guided class setting using various Web multimedia. For example, students view photos and make observations/deductions. After small group discussion, individual groups share their results with the entire class. As each point is identified, we highlight it using an interactive, annotated photograph thereby helping all students identify the proper points. We also use these media to emphasize things missed by the class. We also employ Flash animations to test class predictions about the outcome of a particular process. The animation is shown in its initial state to define the problem and initiate small group discussion. When consensus on the outcome is reached, running the animation reveals the final result. If the prediction is wrong, we explore why the class misinterpreted the process. Agreement between prediction and observation allows us to explore additional complexities or introduce case studies highlighting the process' practical importance. Because the multimedia used for these activities are stored and delivered by the Web, students can review them at any time. Student evaluations and our observations suggest this approach engages students in lecture and lab and connects geoscience concepts and the real world.