THE CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES IN PREPARING SENIOR GEOLOGY STUDENTS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE BOARD OF GEOLOGY (ASBOG) FUNDAMENTAL OF GEOLOGY EXAMINATION

This presentation describes lessons learned from teaching a university class to seniors to prepare for the ASBOG Fundamentals of Geology (FoG) examination. The presentation will review classroom learnings that went well and those that need improvement to teach a FoG examination preparatory class. Topics to be covered are: instructor’s preparation, student exam registration, teaching and testing materials, plus the classroom tests and ASBOG examination results. The class intent was to reacquaint students with subjects they learned early in their academic careers that are pertinent to the exam. Several exam topics such as Engineering and Economic Geology were not part of the Baylor required curriculum but are on FoG examination. Nine students registered with the Texas Board of Professional Geologists Registration and ASBOG to take the examination. The exam registration process was cumbersome for the students, however the Texas Board helped with the process. Baylor University is the only Texas University that provides a preparation class. The classroom management strategy is to encourage students by 1) reimbursing the $200 registration fee if exam passed and 2) providing transportation to the exam site. Students generally register, prepare and take the examination as individuals instead of taking the test as a class. The preparation class provides discipline, a schedule and accountability each week on a topic for students to review. We reviewed one examination topic each week, discussed it in class, and then did homework. Classroom preparation focuses about 1) Physical Geology topics, 2) Exam subject areas found in Wiki, and 3) University level class web sites that focused on a specific test area. Testing materials started with 1) ASBOG provided practice tests, 2) Physical Geology online tests and 3) Instructors created multiple choice tests. In addition we used REG REVIEW, Inc. flash cards that reviewed exam topics in detail. Class testing conducted at the beginning and end of the class prior to the FoG examination that provided student competency assessment. In conclusion, the class provided a disciplined scheduled geology topic review with practice tests that helped students prepare for the ASBOG examination.