GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS? SPLITTING-UP AND INTEGRATING LABORATORY EXERCISES INTO AN ACTIVE-LEARNING CLASSROOM AT A TWO-YEAR COLLEGE

Laboratory exercises in an introductory geology course are excellent candidates for active learning activities, as lab manuals typically break them up into individual assignments. These can be coordinated with topics as they are covered in the class, thus integrating them into the class as a whole, rather than isolating them during specially-designated lab meetings. This is possible at Bergen, a two-year college in the New York City metropolitan area, as the class sections meet for almost three hours a day, twice a week, without such a lab meeting, and always in the same room, so any laboratory materials needed are always available. After covering specific topics with lecture, discussion, and any other in-class exercises, students are asked to complete relevant sections of the labs. The advantages of doing so include: 1) immediately reinforcing concepts rather than waiting several days, 2) breaking-up a long class, so that students don't get bored and zone out, 3) faster turn-around due to less work being done at one time by students and less work to be graded by the instructor, and 4) students not procrastinating and finishing lab work immediately before handing it in several days later. Possible disadvantages include: 1) more total time on a topic may be needed, since everything is done in class, 2) students who are absent miss-out on the opportunity to do the exercises, and 3) students may not get to see how different exercises and concepts fit together.

Comparing labs done in this manner in Spring 2014 with those from the previous semester, when they were done traditionally, there does not appear to be much difference in the scores, with very similar distributions. Overall, the Fall 2013 scores show higher means and lower standard deviations, but the differences are not statistically significant. On a feedback survey, students were asked their opinions of doing the labs this way. Of those that responded, a large majority (80%) agreed that it was helpful or very helpful, although half were neutral on the question on which way of doing labs they preferred. Given these and the possible advantages, this method of doing lab exercises may be favorable for those classes where it is possible.