QUESTIONS, STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS AND PROJECTS TO PROMOTE ACTIVE LEARNING IN INTRODUCTION TO EARTH SCIENCES COURSE AT EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Introduction to Earth Science, which satisfies the General Education Program requirement for physical sciences at Emporia State University, fills 4 sections of 60 students each fall & spring semester & enrolls 30 students in the summer session. In addition to the 4-hour, 4-credit, lecture-based course, students enroll concurrently in a 2-hour, 1-credit lab. Engaging students in active learning processes in lab is not difficult, due to the hands-on nature of most lab activities. Considerably more effort is necessary to ensure that students actively participate in the learning process in lecture sessions. Two methods that encourage student involvement are questions & student participation in demonstrations.

Weekly reading guides, questions that focus students' attention on particular aspects of reading assignments, provide the basis for a variety of class activities & assessments. Participation points reward responses to these questions in class, & pop quizzes rely on the same material. Earlier concepts are revisited within the context of new material by addressing broader themes throughout the semester (e.g. heat transfer & cycling of materials through earth systems).

Any process I can demonstrate in class, rather than simply talk about or show slides of, aids in student understanding. Yet even more effective is having student volunteers do the demos. Although it may take an extra 30 seconds to show the volunteers what to do, the rest of the class pays more attention to the demonstration when it is presented by a peer or peers than if it is performed by me. This also shows that science is "doable" by anyone, not just by the official "scientist" in the room. Some demos involve a single student (e.g. Acid & Hammer Weathering, Big Fat Wave Erosion) while others require more than one student (e.g. You Are The Sun, You Are The Moon & the S- and P-wave Chorus Line). The students who volunteer for the demos earn participation points (a small, but not insignificant, percentage of the class grade) & learn the concepts in the demonstrations especially well.

Students also choose from a variety of inquiry-based activities for another portion of their grade. Internet activities, CD-ROMs, research projects and in-class presentations are options that encourage students to look beyond the book & lecture to investigate other Earth Science topics.