DIGITAL GEOLOGY OF IDAHO: DOCUMENTING SUCCESSFUL STUDENT LEARNING IN FRESHMAN GEOLOGY LABS

The NSF Geoscience Ed-funded Digital Geology of Idaho project (http://geology.isu.edu/nsf-isugeol/) includes: fifteen weekly teaching units illustrating various aspects of the geology of Idaho, flythrough visualizations of Idaho watersheds draped over geologic maps, and a new digital geologic map of Idaho being prepared in conjunction with the Idaho Geological Survey. This dynamic web-based resource is utilized in Freshman Geology 100 and 101 laboratory exercises that teach Introduction to Idaho Geology, the Lake Bonneville Flood, and Plate Tectonics. Student learning in these three exercises appears most closely linked to their geographic familiarity with the topic.

We report on knowledge surveys that are given pre- and post-lab. Pre-lab surveys of the Geology of Idaho, Bonneville Flood, and Plate Tectonics lab exercises show that 39%, 47%, and 31% of the students are confident to somewhat confident in the material covered in each subject, respectively. The Bonneville Flood knowledge surveys showed the largest overall increase in post-lab confidence with a 66% increase in confident responses. Since the 14.5 ka Bonneville Flood came through “our fair city”, students have been previously exposed to some of the boulder deposits left by the flood. The Geology of Idaho and Plate Tectonic knowledge surveys showed the least amount of post-lab confidence with a 34% and 35% respective increase. Idaho is a large state and contains geographic barriers to transportation. Thus, many SE Idaho students have never been to the Idaho batholith of central Idaho or the accreted terranes of Hells Canyon of the Snake River. Thus, they are not previously familiar with these more regional concepts.

Our results reinforce the concept that students learn geoscience more easily when local examples, with which students have geographic familiarity, are used. As the project progresses we will modify exercises to focus on the concepts with which students have difficulty.