KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE: DESIGNING UNDERGRADUATE FIELD EXPERIENCES TO SIGNIFICANT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL GEOLOGIC DESTINATIONS WITH LIMITED RESOURCES

Although field experiences are a key tool in teaching geologic principles, geoscience educators must consider both financial constraints (department budgets and travel costs) and time constraints (on both faculty leaders and students) when designing field experiences. A concerted effort to combine resources (money and time) is needed to provide efficient and inspiring field experiences. We describe in detail a successful field-based undergraduate program that features both traditional course field trips and a series of new short-duration, place-based field experiences.

Major-level courses with overlapping content (i.e. mineralogy and petrology) are typically scheduled during the same semester and share a 4-day regional field trip. Tandem field trips: 1) reduce both departmental costs and time commitments required, 2) provide built-in logistical support for faculty leaders, and 3) enhance connections between curricula. Although some specific mapping and sample collecting exercises may focus on the requirements of a single course, those students not enrolled in that course are encouraged to assist their peers, thereby learning new field techniques.

A more significant challenge is designing short-duration field experiences to distant destinations. These require greater travel and time resources. A yearly departmental excursion combines a field trip with attendance of a national conference. The 3-4 day trip takes 10-12 students to geologically-significant national parks, monuments, and other public lands near the conference site. Non-departmental funds (college support for conference presenters; geology club student activity money for the conference trip) subsidize the overall costs of the trip. A pre-trip, 1-credit preparatory course: 1) provides structured learning of the regional geologic setting and history, 2) generates student experts for individual localities, 3) reduces distracting “novelty space” during the trip, 4) provides course credit compensation, and 5) justifies the trip costs to the administration. Student performance is assessed by their success: 1) with a series of reading and short research assignments prior to the trip, 2) with leading group discussion at a trip locality, and 3) with field notes and summary/reflective statements made during the trip.