WHAT DOES IT TAKE?: TRANSFORMING AN EARTH MATERIALS COURSE INTO AN AVENUE FOR INQUIRY INTO GEOSCIENCE CAREERS

Success in many fields of Geoscience strongly depends on students’ ability to master Mineralogy and Petrology. However, this connection is rarely identified by novice students. In order address this disconnect, Penn State DuBois Earth Materials course (GEOSC 201) have been designed around relevance of taught skills and knowledge to fields that are closely allied. Students are required to produce two fifty minute videos modules entitled “What does it take to become a Volcanologist?” and “What does it take to become a Planetary Geologist?” This work serves the following pedagogical objectives: (1) Demonstrate relevance of foundation courses in the workplace; (2) Motivate students to draw connections among courses in the Geoscience curricula; (3) Reinforce research techniques by reviewing basic scientific method concepts and ideas such as copyright and use of internet materials; (4) Introduce students to the use of Podcasts; (5) Serve as a tutorial to assist students who are transitioning into the workplace; (6) Serve as an introduction to students considering majoring in Geoscience. The foundation of this project will be a series of youtube-style videos that students will prepare in lieu of traditional lab reports. Students will produce videos that present observations of hand samples and thin sections of mineral and rocks, as well as briefly explain their connection to crystal structure & chemistry, basic thermodynamics, nucleation & growth, and geological setting. These videos will be posted and in the Earth Science class blog and as podcasts, to clarify misconceptions and assist students to prepare for the course’s examinations. Each week, a student will act as the blog moderator, evaluating and providing criticism on peers’ work. Finally, students will edit the short video segments and supplemented them with interviews of experts in the field and discussions of government jobs (e.g., USGS) in order to produce “What does it take” videos.