THE IMPACT OF INTRODUCTORY UNDERGRADUATE MINERAL AND ROCK LABORATORY ACTIVITY MODES ON STUDENT VIEWS, MINERAL AND ROCK IDENTIFICATION SKILLS, AND ROCK FORMATION KNOWLEDGE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM COVID-19-MITIGATED COURSE MODIFICATIONS

The need for online/remote options associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired broad discussion among faculty about effective, cost-efficient, and accessible ways for students to interact with rock and mineral specimens in undergraduate geology laboratory courses. “Emergency remote teaching” during spring 2020, rapidly converted online summer courses, and more extensively-planned online and hybrid courses in fall 2020 all utilized different strategies for traditionally face-to-face mineral and rock lab exercises. In this preliminary study, I present results comparing student mineral and rock identification skills, rock formation and interpretation knowledge, and student views on three different online treatments with their face-to-face counterparts in introductory physical and environmental geology courses at a community college. Initial results suggest that students using online-only labs with interactive websites could attain rock and mineral identification skill levels similar to students using hands-on, in-person labs, but did not show similar levels of knowledge on rock formation and interpretation tasks. Additionally, although students found the online interactive website labs useful and enjoyable, they wished they could physically interact with at least some rock and mineral samples. A mix of interactive online website and hands-on sample labs are planned for fall semester 2020. The goal of this study is to help guide future work in developing multiple effective and accessible modes of learning for traditionally hands-on, face-to-face activities.