DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDERGRADUATE GEOSCIENCE CURRICULUM WITH A FOCUS ON FIELD BASED PROJECTS

Based upon constructivist principles and our perceptions that students are motivated by hands-on activities and field experiences, we redesigned the undergraduate geoscience curriculum at Lake Superior State University to focus on project centered activities which incorporate a variety of field based exercises. This active learning environment enhances student development of a meaningful geoscience knowledge base and of complex reasoning skills in authentic contexts. We restructured both lower and upper division coursework to simulate the activities of practicing geoscientists by engaging students in all aspects of a project, for example: field-oriented project planning and design; acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting data; incorporating supplemental and background data; and preparing oral and written project reports. We teach introductory field techniques and basic field mapping skills in lower division academic year courses. Field based projects are a component of a majority of our upper division geoscience course. We separated the traditional six week summer field course into two three week courses, one as the culmination of the sophomore year lower division coursework and one at the end of the junior/senior year. This approach provides the students an opportunity to work in different geological provinces and allows the faculty to incorporate field data and sample collections from the sophomore year field course into upper division course projects. We find through anecdotal evidence including student comments and personal observation that the projects stimulate interest, provide motivation for learning new concepts, integrate skill and concept acquisition vertically through the curriculum, and develop team work and communication skills.