CREATING REALISTIC TESTS: GETTING STUDENTS TO THINK LIKE GEOSCIENTISTS

Final exam papers were handed to students on the first day of class in senior level igneous petrology courses at the University of Calgary. For students, these early access exams showed that the course content would be used and applied; they further indicated the extent of knowledge expected. For the instructor, the early access exams defined the learning objectives; the course had to focus on the material needed to write the exams.

During the scheduled, two-hour, examination period at the end of the course, students wrote essays about a real suite of volcanic rocks. The examination paper contained rock analyses, rock descriptions similar to those the students had made in laboratory exercises, and literature references. Students could bring figures and factual captions to the exam but no other material. The figures and captions were submitted with the essays.

In the essays, students were asked to characterize the suite, to provide rock names, to describe the chemical variations of the suite in terms of process, and to discuss how the magmas and consequent rocks formed. They were to infer pressures and temperatures at which magmatic processes operated and to include inferences about connections between magma chambers.

The suites changed from year-to-year – Rocks from Lunar Crater, Nevada and several recent eruption cycles from Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i provided essay topics.

Igneous petrology seldom made the highlight reel in students' programs, located as we are in Calgary, the centre of Canada's petroleum industry. The idea was to motivate students. Amazingly, early access worked: Third and fourth year students wrote essays that were better than acceptable with respect to content – some were excellent. A by-product of early access exams is easier teaching. Students actively participate in learning a topic when it is introduced with an explanation of its role in deciphering volcanic processes.

The writing was not the best because the essays were written under pressure. Consequently, the essays took time to read. Numerous, small, guided writing exercises during the course would likely have improved the presentations.

Student evaluations changed from ‘this course sucks' to ‘I can't believe I wrote an essay on magmatic history.' Some students even made a special effort to express their appreciation.