INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY: AN ASSESSMENT OF ONLINE, COMPRESSED VIDEO, AND SHORT FIELD-BASED LAB COURSES

An Internet course, a compressed video course, and a weekend field-based lab course were developed as non-major introductory classes in response to needs of students for varying teaching methodologies and delivery techniques. After two iterations, comparison using standard points such as retention, grades, and student evaluations amongst these three types of non-traditional courses, and between the non-traditional and traditional courses provide a way to assess and refine our efforts at curriculum innovation.

The Internet course was designed to increase our student pool. Using the flexibility of a 24/7 learning environment, the course assumed an asynchronous schedule. The goal of reaching a broader market was only weakly attained with the majority being regular on-campus students. However, the higher quality of participation and learning was very positive.

The 2-way compressed video course grew out of different needs. The first, the university’s desire to expand offerings at a branch facility, complemented the second reason, a need to make viable certain small sections. The course was given at the main campus, and simultaneously transmitted to a neighboring town. The advantage of attracting more students is balanced against problems with student participation and focus that resulted from both hardware and transmission problems, as well as instructor inexperience with this format.

The short field-based lab, loosely connected to a three-hour course, was developed to broaden the geology experience for non-majors. This optional one-credit-hour lab component took place over two long weekends -- studying, documenting, and interpreting the geology of national parks. Students not only received a feel for how geology is done, but also directly experienced the beauty and problems of the park system.

These experiments in format provided opportunities for different groups of students to learn and experience geology. Also, they give us the opportunity to look analytically both at student performance by format and student perception of the three learning formats. The courses can be deemed successful by standard assessment methods, though limited success was achieved in reaching new students. Adjusting these classes through analytical assessment should improve outcomes, as well as present techniques that could be used in more traditional courses.