FIELD TRIPS: A “SIGNATURE PEDAGOGY” FOR GEOSCIENCE’S “TANGLED BANKS”

According to Lee Shulman, each profession has a “signature pedagogy,” a type of assignment or experience that sets that discipline apart. In geology, one of the signature pedagogies is the field trip. As all of us know, outcrops, modern geologic environments and, in fact, other data sources used by geoscientists are complex: much is missing, some things are overrepresented, etc. The challenge of sorting it all out is what enticed many of us to geoscience in the first place. We don’t have to search beyond our local exposures for the kind of messy, real-life problems that make for excellent instructional material, both for geoscience students and others taking our classes. At Carleton College, we base our undergraduate teaching on multiple field experiences: starting early, happening often, and set up as inquiries. Because professional geoscientists use the “field trip” signature pedagogy too, not only with their students, but with each other, writing a field trip guidebook is something we can ask our students to do, along with writing in other professional formats such as literature reviews, grant proposals and research results. Doing the research and writing ahead of the trip gives students more ownership when the trip happens. Moreover, the students responsible for the guidebook entries can then lead the problem-solving and discussion at the field trip sites.