COMBINING PROBLEM BASED LEARNING WITH BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK TO RENOVATE EARTH SCIENCE CURRICULA

Traditional lectures and textbook based curricula will do nothing to inspire the future generations of scientists that we are in such desperate need of. Not only that, but such traditional methods do not give students a chance to develop their creativity, problem solving skills, or the ability to take charge of their own learning. These skills are necessary for success in any field, and by utilizing “real world” scenarios in a problem based learning environment, we can allow students at all levels to develop these skills while engaging them in earth science. There is no reason for earth science education to be dull or mundane. A problem based learning curriculum in earth science can meet any state’s standards just as well as traditional lectures, but it can do so in an exciting way that goes beyond the standards by allowing students to take charge of their own learning. To add to the excitement of solving “real world” problems in earth science, an even deeper connection can be made by developing scenarios which take advantage of locations that are familiar to the students. Big Bend National Park, in addition to being very well known in this region, is of great interest to earth scientists and could serve as a platform for problem based learning curricula for countless topics at any grade level. Therefore, merging Big Bend National Park and problem based learning has the power to be an effective way to provide a much needed transformation of traditional earth science curricula.