“HISTORICAL GEOLOGY”: KEEPING CLASSIC CONTENT CURRENT WITH OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Our free, online, open educational resource (OER) “Historical Geology” continues to evolve. Available at https://opengeology.org/historicalgeology under a Creative Commons license, our intention is that adopting instructors mix and match content areas, choosing their own adventures for students through geologic time. The text now includes 15 “traditional” chapters on major geology themes (rocks, stratigraphy, geologic time, plate tectonics, mass extinctions, paleoclimate, etc.), and 25 case studies reviewing particular places, events, taxa, or phenomena. The length and format of case studies vary–some are videos, others are mainly graphical, or traditional text-based explorations. There are also 6 pages classified as “tools of the trade,” emphasizing skills such as mineral identification, reading geologic maps, and interpreting paleo-up indicators in sedimentary rocks. Finally, we feature 12 virtual field experiences (e.g., Siccar Point, the Massanutten Synclinorium, and Glacier National Park) and 14 virtual sample sets (e.g., igneous rocks, sediment samples, relative dating). Pages are rich with interactive imagery, such as embedded virtual globes, 3D models, GIGAmacro and GigaPan images, Google Maps, image galleries, animated GIFs, and self-test quizzes. Feedback from nearly 100 surveyed students is overwhelmingly positive–they find the text easily navigable and readable, and enjoy the interactive elements. In 2022, we had 2900 to 3900 visitors per week to the site. We continue to add case studies to the site, and are currently developing accompanying OER lab exercises.