TEACHING NONTRADITIONAL GEOLOGY STUDENTS HOW TO LEARN GEOLOGY

Learning barriers encountered by nontraditional students in Geology take many forms, but it can simply be the lack of knowing how to learn. Geology students are taught the content of the science, but rarely how to learn such content. One of the many powerful strategies is by using representations which are helpful in organizing facts and highlighting relationships among those facts. Teaching students how to build matrices by using geologic topics and repeatable categories will allow them to visualize the internal and external connections between the different geological processes. This presentation is on how to teach students learning strategies in geology and to help them become an independent learner – a learner who learns without assistance. It is also to help eliminate the fear of science for nontraditional students.