SUSTAINABLE AND MEANINGFUL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

Science classes generally teach students to question assumptions. In order to best prepare our community-college students for careers in the geosciences, we have created an ongoing student-led research project that provides opportunities to develop skills necessary for geological field work as well as experience with decision-making and collaborating. Students may participate for up to two semesters in the study; returning students are expected to mentor incoming students.

The project involves testing the logical assumption that sediments undergo changes along the length of a given stream. Trabuco Creek is a tributary of San Juan Creek in southern Orange County, CA. In past semesters, students have been mapping the bedrock and the creek, conducting both longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles, sampling sediment from the creek bed, and performing sieve analyses. This semester's work, defined by the team, is to continue mapping the bedrock and to analyze sediments for changes in roundness, sphericity and compositional distribution among different size fractions, as related to stream position and tributary input, in an effort to test standard assumptions.

Students will present both scientific and academic returns. Instructors will also report on lessons learned, including involvement of faculty, procuring of resources, strategies for assessment of students at various levels in the project, and addressing the challenges of course repeatability.