LEARNING AND TEACHING GEOSCIENCE CONCEPTS

In the spring semester of 2006 at a major Midwest university, 97 elementary education majors were introduced to the geoscience concepts of plate tectonics and geologic time. The Geoscience Concept Inventory was administered both pre and post instruction. These results were compared to results from 240 non-science, non-education majors taking an introductory class in physical geology. For the pre-service elementary teachers, the average pre-test score was 27%. Following 15 weeks of instruction, the average post test score improved to 47%. The students in the introductory physical geology course scored slightly higher than the national average on their pre-test with a 47%, and improved to slightly above a 50% on the post test. In this talk we will discuss the differences in the two populations, the curricula, and instructional methods.