ON THE VALUE OF INTEGRATING BEGINNING AND ADVANCED GEOSCIENCE STUDENTS IN FIELD GEOLOGY INSTRUCTION

Undergraduate student experiences for beginning geoscience majors or non-majors are most rich when a well-designed field component is integrated into the curriculum. However, such integration is often problematic in introductory courses because uninterrupted attention to a project or geological field relationships is difficult in the traditional lecture/lab format. Advanced undergraduate courses that allow for extended duration field geology experiences provide a high return in conceptual understanding of geological phenomena, data acquisition skills, scientific methodology practice, and general appreciation for natural landscapes. The trick is to try to combine the two experiences. Off-campus courses offered as part of Lafayette College’s interim studies program are different in that the field-based learning experience is shared by advanced geoscience majors, early stage majors, and non-majors.

In this model, experienced students benefit from mentoring beginning students in geological field exercises. The beginning students then benefit from the interactive, team learning that occurs in these partnerships. By fostering a learning environment where students’ different academic experiences interplay within the context of an earth science course, these field courses also become interdisciplinary. Students develop the desired skill sets of beginning geologists but also wrestle with ethics and policy issues such as land use, natural resources, and conservation. In order to encourage an open educational dialog, we have successfully employed an instruction technique of directed readings/discussion of place- or issue-based literature (e.g., Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire in southern Utah) into course curricula. Coupling an overview of the geologic history of a region with focused human/environment interaction subject matter (e.g., Glen Canyon Dam) provides a more fulfilling academic experience. By opening discussion to perspectives outside of the geosciences, non-majors become more invested in the topical content of the geological core of the course and, we believe, are more understanding of the importance and methodologies of the geological sciences. Conversely, both beginning and advanced geology students benefit from the perspectives that non-majors bring to geological study.