NOTETAKING AS A CRITICAL ELEMENT IN TEACHING GEOLOGY TO NON-TRADITIONAL AND DISABLED STUDENTS

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers several introductory-level geology courses at night, including physical geology, oceanography, and Life of the Past. These evening classes are intended for non-traditional students, but many typical undergraduates, including several with disabilities, have enrolled in these classes over the last 6 years. Similar classes are also offered at Southeast Community College (Lincoln, NE).

In an attempt to maximize the deliverability of these classes to non-traditional students and students with disabilities, a series of post-class interviews with these students have been regularly conducted at both institutions since 1998 to determine which teaching techniques were most successful for them. Non-traditional students indicated that they preferred extra time to allow them to take “adequate” notes during class. Several classes allowed time during class for these students to compare their notes with other members of the groups to which they were assigned, and this technique was overwhelmingly popular with non-traditional students. Disabled students participating in these classes over the past 6 years include several with hearing losses and significant loss of visual acuity. Specially edited versions of the instructor’s notes were provided to these students, and during post-class interviews, they indicated that these notes were extremely useful in comprehending the material presented in class.

Good note-taking is important for any student, but appears to be of relatively greater importance for non-traditional students. Classroom techniques that allow students to compare and exchange ideas about each others notes are the most popular with the non-traditional students interviewed in this data base.