COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIMENTAL PETROLOGY AND ANALYTICAL METHODS COURSE USING 1-ATM FURNACE, SEM, AND EPMA

A group of nine undergraduate students at Humboldt State University took part in a project-based course investigating 1-atm phase equilibria in the An-Di system. Students worked in groups of 2-3 to: synthesize different starting compositions, perform phase equilibrium experiments using a 1-atm vertical quench furnace, prepare samples for electron beam analysis, visit the CAMCOR lab at the University of Oregon to perform sample analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron microprobe (EPMA), process and interpret the collected microprobe data, and interpret back-scattered electron (BSE) images. Groups presented their individually interpreted results on different bulk compositions in a department poster session and the combined results have been submitted to the fall 2009 GSA meeting (Kelley, J., et al.). The course gave each student direct hands-on experience in the steps involved in performing and interpreting experiments. Based on student feedback, everyone came away with a better understanding of how experimental petrology research is done and they also gained a greater appreciation of what is necessary to produce the phase diagrams they see in textbooks and primary literature. Student comments also referred to the benefits gained by learning from (and teaching to) others and stated an excitement in discovering that phase diagrams “actually work.” The larger course project is being subdivided into smaller components to be useable for course activities at other institutions that lack access to experimental petrology, SEM, or EPMA facilities. The intent is to make these components/activities, including BSE images and EPMA data, available electronically to other faculty via a resource like the Science Education Resource Center (http://serc.carleton.edu), so that other students may make their own interpretations using real data and discover how phase diagrams “actually” work.