A “PLACE-AS-TEXT” APPROACH TO GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION BASED ON THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE HONORS COUNCIL'S "CITY AS TEXT"™ EVENTS

City as Text™ (CAT™) is a site-based experiential learning technique (Braid, 1990) developed for use by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) and is run for participants at annual meetings for students and faculty to gain greater understanding of the host city using a multidisciplinary, and interactive, approach. A slight modification to this technique is the broader application of “Place as Text.” Both techniques use Kolb’s (1984) psychological model of experiential learning that begins with 1) concrete experience, progresses to 2) observation and reflection, 3) formation of abstract concepts and generalization, and ends with 4) testing implications of concepts in new situations.

Using CAT™ as the model for an Introduction to Earth Science (freshman level, non-major, general education course) field trip, I show that such an approach results in statistically greater comprehension of basic material, as well as high order thinking skills, in participants. Within-year and between-year comparisons also show a greater understanding of the material when using this technique.