FROM “ROCKS FOR JOCKS” TO “JOCKS TALKING ABOUT ROCKS”: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING THE DESIGN AND SCOPE OF THE TRADITIONAL, LARGE LECTURE, INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY COURSE FOR NON-SCIENCE MAJORS

To challenge perceptions about the traditional “rocks for jocks” introductory geology course, and to address concerns of geoscience literacy, the instructor instituted a number of pedagogical strategies. The instructor historically contextualized three main geoscience topics: (1) the earth has a history, (2) that history is very, very long, and (3) the earth is a dynamic system, while a fourth topic explicitly addressed the nature of science (NOS). The very large (n=355) class divided into 80 groups of 4-5 each, and participated in multiple collaborative discussions and written activities addressing both geologic content and NOS. Through a qualitative analysis of responses to instructor-created prompts, students expressed some differences in NOS understandings from the beginning of the course to the end. In the beginning-of-course descriptions, students referred to science in terms of “the scientific method”, proving (or disproving) hypotheses, or following directions and mixing substances together (as in baking or cooking). At the end of the course, students characterized science more along the lines of a process based in assumptions, observations, and bias. They talked more about the process of iterations, building on prior knowledge to formulate an explanation for phenomena in the natural world. Future study will also focus on geoscience conceptual development as well.