PLANETARY SCIENCE AS A GATEWAY TO THE GEOLOGY MAJOR: IN-PERSON AND ONLINE TEACHING RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES FROM THE COURSE EXPLORING THE PLANETS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE

Exploring the Planets introduces students to the fundamentals of geology and applications to planetary objects through interactive lectures, laboratory exercises, and student exploration assignments. Since its inception in the fall of 2009, dozens of graduate teaching assistants and faculty have developed and taught the lectures and laboratories. Since Fall 2018, lectures have focused on supporting student learning during nine laboratory activities: the scale of the solar system, planetary materials, space exploration, remote sensing, impact cratering, tectonics, volcanism, water, and geologic history. Lab activities covering these topics include in-person and online versions. Additionally, students complete photo journal entries relevant to the current learning unit. Photo journals consist of students identifying relevant concepts or objects of interest, finding representative images, and writing short essays on their images. Photo journal assignments help students explore the current unit further. In-class peer-review sessions of photo journals help students learn from each other. Teaching strategies that help students learn include guided notetaking and check-ins. Guided notetaking supports student learning outcomes by helping students organize new terminology. Frequent use of metacognitive check-ins helps students reflect on and self-regulate their learning efforts. These resources and strategies are available for sharing. Those interested in collaborating on geoscience education research are strongly encouraged to reach out.