USING RESEARCH PROJECTS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN A COMBINED INTRODUCTORY AND ADVANCED GEOLOGY FIELD PROGRAM

A benefit of Augustana’s January-term is the opportunity to run 3-week-long field courses far from snow-covered outcrops in Illinois. Logistical barriers, such as on-site transportation, housing limitations and the number of geology majors able to afford the experience, were overcome by creating 2 intertwined 10-student geology courses within a single program – both a 100-level introductory course and an advanced 300-level carbonate geology course. This approach had beneficial learning outcomes beyond those we had expected, and we suggest that this approach could be successfully employed with other field-based courses.

After an initial 5 days of intense 5-hour/day on-campus instruction upon which to build an intellectual, scientific framework, we travelled to the Caribbean Dutch island of Bonaire for 2 weeks of fieldwork, both on land and under water (SCUBA & snorkeling). In addition to its exceptional fringing reef, an assortment of igneous and sedimentary rocks crop out, so it is well-suited for an educational geologic destination. Many on-island stops were designed to reinforce framework concepts; both groups travelled together for logistical reasons, so combining field efforts was necessary. Therefore, we tasked the advanced students with designing mini-research projects involving the collection of real data, and we deployed the introductory students as their field assistants. Instead of garnering resistance to being “used” as free labor, the 100-level students relished the chance to do real – messy – science; fieldbook note-taking and participation as significant components of their grade helped the introductory students focus, but it was clear from their attitudes that they enjoyed the fieldwork. This technique was successful both on land and under water, with all divers integral to the success of the reef research, regardless of their prior geologic training. Back on campus, after a few days of data synthesis and analysis, the advanced geology students presented their findings to the combined group of students, further reinforcing both presentation (to a mixed audience) and active listening skills. The geology majors felt indebted to the non-majors for their help in covering more ground and collecting more data, and the non-majors felt more invested in the science and the scientific inquiry process.