COLLEGE STUDENT MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS AND LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT

Student misconceptions are an important aspect to consider when designing curricula and assessments, but surprisingly little is known about misconceptions in college geology courses. We are actively researching misconceptions in such settings, including misconceptions about sedimentary environments and landscape development. To identify possible misconceptions, we developed a multiple-choice and free-response survey covering various aspects of sedimentary deposition, environments, facies, and rocks, and the expression of such rocks in the landscape. We then interviewed a small number of students, especially those who held the most common or most unusual misconceptions. To address especially widespread misconceptions, we developed a revised multiple-choice and free-response survey and a web-based module built around interactive animations. Intact lab sections of introductory college geology were used as control and experimental groups; the experimental group used the module, whereas the control group did other pertinent activities. Both groups were pre- and post-tested to document changes in conceptions and to compare the two groups statistically. Post-test class averages were significantly higher than pretest averages for both groups, and the post-test average of the experimental group was significantly higher than the average of the control group. Students initially had difficulty understanding the basic idea of deposition, sedimentary rock formation (particularly that of limestone), geologic ages, and superposition. Also, many students do not comprehend that sedimentary rocks represent layers that extend back into the subsurface, rather than just being “painted on” an already existing landscape. Although some misconceptions were alleviated by the module and other instruction, other misconceptions were very resistant to change and remained strongly held at the end of the course. If left unrecognized and uninstructed, such misconceptions may interfere with learning in ways a geology instructor may not anticipate.