A CASE STUDY OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION AND ASSESSMENT:DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A GEOLOGIC MAPPING CLASS FOR STUDENTS WITH NO PRIOR GEOLOGY KNOWLEDGE

Over the course of eight months, a geoscience education project has been constructed, implemented, and evaluated to assess the acquisition of skills and geologic knowledge of high school students enrolled in GPS Geologic Mapping of the Colby Campus. From the earliest stages of planning to the class meetings themselves, the goal has been to introduce the students to the bedrock and surficial geology and the geologic history of their community, thereby helping them create a concept of the "Big Picture."

The students were issued a pre-test consisting of twenty multiple choice questions and five short answer, critical thinking questions. A post-test will be administered at the close of the course to measure the effectiveness of the course and the assessment methodologies employed. It is hypothesized that the score difference will be larger in the critical thinking portion of the exam than in the multiple choice portion. In addition, it is postulated that the final product of the class--student portfolios and presentations, as well as a self-evaluation--will more completely demonstrate the depth of the knowledge gained by the students than either the multiple choice or critical thinking assessments. It is expected that the results of all of these forms of assessment will show that each student has gained considerable skills and geologic knowledge, leaving each student with a comprehensive understanding of the "Big Picture" of the geology and geologic history of the Colby Campus.