A REGIONAL ROCK-UISTION: INTRODUCING EDUCATIONAL REFORM INTO A CONVENTIONAL FIELD TRIP

High school students in North Carolina now need to pass an Earth/Environmental Science course to fulfill their graduation requirements. This project supports the implementation of the Earth/Environmental Science Curriculum through the collaborative efforts of the North Carolina Geological Survey, local public school teachers and students, local universities, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

In order to provide the teachers of Earth/Environmental Science an experience with both content and instructional methods, we designed a field trip to model inquiry teaching and learning in the context of our local geology. The trip was designed to help our participants construct a base knowledge of several geologic concepts: structural features of the outcropping rocks, mineralogy of the rocks, a temporal overview of the local geology and human impact issues.

The field trip was designed to demonstrate the use of inquiry teaching and learning in a geological field setting. Participants (teachers and university personnel) were taken to four sites. At each site, participants were asked to make observations about the overall geological structure and mineralogy of each site. Participants were then given several over-arching questions that served to direct them in "self-guided" investigations.

Recent research supports the conclusion that students who have an active role in constructing their own knowledge base have a stronger interest in the subject matter. By going in to the field, participants developed the use of observation skills and looked for evidence of effects of variables over time. In addition, we concluded that learning doesn't have to be held hostage to the classroom. Inquiry teaching and learning provides an environment where skills are taught and coached and then used to collect data that evolve and infer content, in this case, an understanding of the history of the local geology.