DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL FIELD-BASED UNDERGRADUATE HYDROGEOLOGY COURSE

Teaching a successful undergraduate level Hydrogeology course can prove challenging. The course I teach at Angelo State University is no exception due to students having backgrounds in Geosciences or Natural Resource Management and varying degrees of mathematical abilities. Over the past three years, I have developed the course to be field based. The initial course included graduate level mathematics and fewer field trips, which created a negative learning environment for many students. The course was redeveloped to include an average of one field trip every other week and a final capstone trip; students collected their own data for various projects on each trip. We successfully completed a variety of projects including calculating discharge of streams and rivers, taking static level data for wells, creating three-point problems in unconfined systems, and determining draw down curves for pumping wells. Students were less hesitant to apply mathematical equations to their own data compared to data given in class. A Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment project, an in-class presentation by each student on a Hydrogeology topic, and a research paper, are challenging, yet rewarding components that were integrated into the course. These initiatives have created a student oriented learning environment that prepares the students well for the work force and has made the class successful and in demand.