FIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN GEOLOGY: A PEER MENTORED UNDERGRADUATE FIELD COURSE

Field Investigations in Geology is a peer mentored undergraduate field course offered by the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences in conjunction with the Gerace Research Center, San Salvador, the Bahamas. The course is designed to develop basic geologic field and research skills while investigating a variety of geologic phenomena. Student contact time is divided between 8 hours of classroom preparation, 60 hours of field and laboratory work at San Salvador and the Gerace Research Center, and 6 to 20 hours of presentation development. The class enrollment consists of 17 students from a wide range of academic majors, including 8 geology majors having at least 20 semester hours each of prior geology coursework.

Six separate investigations were conducted with the intended outcome of developing skills and practical knowledge of topographic map interpretation, orienteering, carbonate and coastal processes, coastal change, GPS, and computer assisted mapping. All investigation projects are a cooperative group effort. Geology majors are used as peer mentors to assist students with little or no geology/science academic background. A pre-course and post course survey is administered to all students as the primary assessment instrument. Additional assessment is provided by the presentation of selected field investigation projects at a formal Youngstown State University student and faculty research forum.

The methods and results of three investigation projects have been selected for presentation: Mapping the Pigeon Creek Tidal Estuary Delta Using the Geographic Positioning System, Rapid Progradation at Sandy Point, and Junk Beach Tidal Structures I-III.