Rookie Earth Science Teaching Triumphs and Tragedies at the University of Northern Iowa

As new faculty member at the University of Northern Iowa, I am striving to develop an effective teaching style. Carrying a dual appointment in Earth Science and Science Education has opened my mind to different pedagogies given my relatively traditional training in the geosciences. Not being far removed from being a student myself and not having been trained specifically as an educator I am using three primary philosophies; 1) Adapting teaching styles from professors that I have respected throughout my on-going education; 2) incorporating personal research into the classroom; and 3) providing experiential (inquiry-based) learning opportunities. The pathways to student-learning are diverse, different for each individual, and appear to change from class to class or year to year. Developing a successful teaching style is challenging and appears to involve finding an engaging and flexible medium that leads each student to their own personal discoveries of primary earth science concepts.

Currently, the most effect teaching strategies have involved incorporating experiential learning into and outside the classroom. The University of Northern Iowa offers a series of earth science inquiry-based opportunities including a GPS/GIS campus geology tour, weekend field (mapping) excursions, and multiple week field studies courses. Linking classroom discussions to field opportunities has been well received as documented by class evaluations. Early test results also suggest basic concepts (e.g. the rock cycle) are retained, more so than memorizing diagrammatic text examples, when students are able to relate their personal field observations to the earth science concepts. An additional, successful teaching strategy has been the use of earth science undergraduate teaching assistants during introductory laboratories. This provides our junior and senior earth science majors additional experience and prepares them for graduate teaching assistantships. The introductory students also benefit from the opportunities of interacting with a peer and a professor during laboratory exercises.