A FREE-TO-DOWNLOAD GEOSCIENCE TEXTBOOK FOR PRE-UNIVERSITY TO INTRODUCTORY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN YOUR REGION (Invited Presentation)

The International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO), in collaboration with the International Union of Geological Sciences Commission on Geoscience Education (IUGS-COGE), recently published a free-to-download geoscience textbook at: http://www.igeoscied.org/teaching-resources/geoscience-text-books/. The textbook is aimed at able 16-year old students and their teachers, to support the International Geoscience Syllabus published by IGEO/IUGS-COGE (at http://www.igeoscied.org/?page_id=269). University faculty may also find this text appropriate for introductory Earth science courses. The published version is the ‘international version’, with international photos and international ‘interest boxes’ which extend the syllabus into interest areas to engage and enthuse readers. It is written in accessible English, was checked by experts and has approximately 70,000 words, 60 diagrams, 500 photos and 60 ‘interest boxes’. Both the syllabus and the textbook were developed by voluntary effort to allow their free download.

Colleagues around the world are invited to develop personalized versions of the textbook for their own regions/countries, by replacing the photos with local ones and by replacing or adding to the ‘interest boxes’ with local examples. They may also wish to translate the text into their own languages. These regionalized versions can then also be posted for free download. Currently versions for Brazil, England, Italy, Scotland, and Spain are planned. This flexibility is designed to make the text more “place-based” for increased student understanding, and enable students and instructors from both developed and developing countries to incorporate a text into their courses without the burden of skyrocketing textbook costs.

A companion book is also under preparation, keyed into the chapter headings, suggesting active learning teaching ideas and strategies (for example, the activities at www.earthlearningidea.com), with questions for students to consolidate and extend their understanding. If any additional geoscience educators are willing to prepare a ‘regionalized’ version for their own countries or regions, and have it checked by local experts, we will fully acknowledge your contribution, add it to the IGEO website for free download, and pay you exactly the same as we get paid ourselves – nothing at all. Please join us in extending this new up-to-date geoscience education resource as widely as possible.