TRANSLATING RESEARCH on HOW PEOPLE LEARN TO THE GEOSCIENCE CLASSROOM

A wealth of resources currently exists to advise instructors on teaching strategies aligned with research on learning. In some cases, teaching and learning materials specific to the geosciences that exemplify these strategies exist and are freely available for others to use (such as through online clearinghouses like SERC). However, general descriptions of most strategies currently outnumber examples of what these strategies can look like with geoscience concepts and skills. Additionally, both current research and our experience in transforming undergraduate science curricula at a large research institution observe that most faculty modify materials to tailor it to their individual courses. However, faculty who are not geoscience education experts have difficulty in making modifications that preserve the essential features of curriculum aligned with current research on how people learn.

The purpose of this project is to: 1) describe transferable strategies informing the design of reformed materials useful in a varied of settings, 2) demonstrate specific examples of how these strategies have been actualized in geoscience curricula, and 3) highlight key features and provide suggestions for their implementation and modification that support instructors’ effective use of teaching and learning materials (including what we’ve learned from less effective implementation). We focus on strategies we have found easily transferable across a variety of courses, including: warm-up exercises, scaffolding, group exams, in-class exercises in groups, preparation for future learning, and course alignment with learning goals.