THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIELD STUDIES COURSES IN THE GEOLOGY PROGRAM AT ORANGE COAST COLLEGE: SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

One of the benefits of being part of a geology department in Southern California is that within a six-hour drive from the Orange Coast College campus are a wealth of diverse geologic landscapes, rock types, and tectonic environments spanning the breadth of geologic processes and Earth history. Beginning in 2016, a series of field-based courses were developed as part of an effort to raise the visibility of the Geology program at Orange Coast College. These courses have no pre-requisites and attract both Geology majors as well as non-science majors; all courses are written with student learning outcomes that align with similar courses in the course catalogs of the four-year universities in the state of California, allowing the transfer of credits within the California system. Field studies courses are offered during the regular Fall/Spring semesters, with long-weekend trips scheduled during the term to locations of geologic interest within a day’s drive from campus (e.g. Yosemite, Death Valley, Colorado Plateau); longer (7-10 day) excursions have been offered during the Summer terms to locations farther afield (e.g. Crater Lake, Yellowstone/Tetons). All courses center around the required multi-day camping excursions; pre-trip meetings to provide background information, logistics, and expectations, and post-trip meetings synthesize content as well as manage student projects and assessments. While recent trips have hit enrollment caps and had waitlists, a continuing challenge revolves around maintaining minimum enrollments in an environment in which overall district enrollments are declining; an effort is underway to convert pre- and post-trip meetings to a hybrid online/F2F environment to boost enrollments. Development of strategies to reduce field course costs for students are also important for maintaining sustainable enrollments; the use of departmental funds has significantly lowered student out-of-pocket expenses. Opportunities also exist to develop interdisciplinary field courses with allied departments (e.g. Marine Science, Environmental Science). Over the past four years, the field courses have provided unique experiences to our students and built a stronger cohort of students within the Geology program at Orange Coast College.