A GEM OF A CLASS: TEACHING ‘DIAMONDS AND GEMS’ TO BYU GENED STUDENTS

General Education (GenEd) core classes are an important recruiting ground for geoscience majors. The BYU Department of Geosciences has been offering the physical science GenEd “Diamonds and Gems” for the last eight years. More than 95% of the students are non-science majors. The class has grown in popularity from 24 students yearly to nearly 400 students yearly, with high interest and large waitlists. Student satisfaction in the class is high according to anonymous ratings.

The class is structured around two lectures and one lab session per week. The lecture sessions include not only scientific training (how to read graphs, derive formulas, etc) and geological topics, but also debates and discussions around the ethics of luxury purchases from developing countries.

In the lab session, students are taught to a) appraise diamonds using the industry-standard “4 Cs”, using diamonds donated to the department over the years; b) identify unknown colored gemstones based on refractive index, specific gravity, and microscope work; and c) distinguish between natural (mined), treated, synthetic, and simulated gemstones. Although BYU has an extensive gem collection (donated and purchased), a similar class could be created with a start-up cost of less than $10,000, gems and laboratory equipment included.

A one-day field trip is offered to the students out to Topaz Mountain to collect their own topaz, garnet, amethyst, obsidian, and (occasionally) red beryl. Some students, especially those of traditionally urban experiences, approach the field trip with trepidation or even fear. Once they are out in the field, they have a positive experience and often cite the field trip as their favorite part of the class. Managing a large (+140 students over two Saturdays) field trip has its challenges but has proven to be a rewarding effort.