SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AS TEXTS FOR TEACHING HYDROGEOLOGY

Every hydrogeology course seeks to help students understand principles of ground water character and flow, and most courses use only a textbook as a guide. But when students learn to read original hydrogeologic research, they develop skills in critiquing scientific writing. They become aware of current ideas in the field, and they develop a healthy skepticism about the mutability of ideas presented in textbooks.

In this study, Ground Water and Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (GWMR) were used as texts in a graduate level hydrogeology course. A seminar approach taught basic principles, helped students develop skills at reading research, and provoked excitement about current events in the field. The experiment differed from standard seminar courses in that articles used were not hand-selected classic papers. Instead, all students used the same single issue of each journal, and everyone read all articles in both journals.

The course was organized by sorting the 38 articles into units on physical, chemical, and contaminant hydrogeology, and ground water modeling. Each day, a student led a discussion of the assigned article's content, as well as a critique of its organization, style, format, writing, and figures.

Daily assessments asked students how well they understood the article pre- and post-discussion. Grades were based on 9 quizzes and on discussion-leading and preparation. The text Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology by Domenico and Schwartz was used, but only as a reference. At the end of the semester, students wrote their own research proposals, which were critiqued by the now-practiced class.

Students reported the course opened their eyes to the complexity of the field, exposed them to theory as well as applications of hydrogeologic principles, clarified guidelines for structuring scientific papers, and developed their skills at reading and critiquing research. Less successful aspects were that some articles were too advanced, and students got overwhelmed. One student declared "although the reading level was a stretch, it really was worth doing." Another student, already employed as a hydrogeologist, concluded "reading and discussion the articles also reminded me continually that the industry is dynamic, and even though I work in the industry, sometimes I forget that. I intend to religiously read GWMR."