WALK-THROUGH VIDEOS: USING FLIPGRID FOR FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT WITH GEOLOGY MAJORS

Getting to know Geology majors, both personally and academically, is necessary for providing tailored instruction and guidance to students as they progress through our courses and the major; however, it is challenging to do this while teaching through a screen during the pandemic. Students taking classes via Zoom are more reluctant to be on camera and to ask or answer questions, and there are far fewer opportunities for casual conversations with individual students. To get a better sense of how students were learning, and particularly how they were handling big concepts and difficult problems, I started assigning Flipgrid walk-through videos. Flipgrid is a free website and app that allows course participants to easily create and share short videos; it is touted as means to facilitate video discussion and build community. For walk-through assignments, students work independently to solve a problem, explain a concept, sketch a diagram, observe a sample, etc. When they are satisfied, they record a Flipgrid video and walk me through their work. Students can hold their work in front of a webcam or use the Flipgrid app and record with a rear-facing camera; either way, students were not required to appear in their videos. Videos were capped at 3-5 minutes, depending on the problem, and set to moderated status for privacy. I have used this assignment in Mineralogy, Igneous & Metamorphic Petrology, and Optical Mineralogy courses for problems such as determining Miller indices, sketching and explaining an optical indicatrix, and describing and interpreting rock textures. Through explaining their work, students were better able to identify their sticky spots and questions, I was able to address common questions and misunderstandings in class, and students were better prepared and more engaged in our discussions. This activity has provided more insight into individual student understanding than perhaps any other assignment, and will be a useful tool for face-to-face courses.