Field and Classroom Strategies to Improve Critical Thinking in Introductory Geoscience

CoursesBecca Walker (rwalker@mtsac.edu)

Dept. of Earth Sciences and Astronomy, Mount San Antonio CollegeCollaborators: Mark Boryta, Terri Long (faculty); Ryan Fox, Tiffany Garbiso, Jon Hale,

Amos Jo, Ronnie Neihart, Diego Raya (students)

Project Overview

Angular unconformity between Miguelito shale and unconsolidated sediment

•In class, students seem to understand geologic concepts and can identify rocks and minerals in hand sample.

•Still, they struggle transferring that knowledge to an outcrop.

•How can we teach students to use existing knowledge to think critically and make accurate interpretations in the field?

•Used video, interview, and written data to identify common problems and modify our classroom and field instruction.

Hurdles to critical thinking in the field

•Procedure—not sure what to do when they get to the outcrop.•What am I supposed to be writing, other than what color the rock is and its name?•Am I supposed to be looking at “the whole thing” or just one rock?•Am I supposed to touch it?

•Metacognition—not engaging in self-regulation.•Why do I think that this is a granite and not a rhyolite?•Which pieces of information are most important for me to consider?

•Recall—difficulty retrieving information learned during class and applying the information to a real, live outcrop.

•Confidence lacking—afraid to be wrong.•Feel rushed—not enough time to reflect before the instructor sums up.

First semester video (no changes in instructional methods made; just observing)

Context: Student attempts to locate angular unconformity.

Prior to field trip, this student demonstrated understanding of unconformities during class.

Realization #1: Some field trip instructional methods/instructor behavior hinder critical thinking.

[Think for ~20 seconds and come up with an example or two.]

•Inadequate wait time (translates to inadequate think time)•Too much peppering (rapid questioning)•Lecturing•Spending too little time at an outcrop

Realization #2: Discussing explicitly with students what it means to think critically in geoscience is important.

•Example: spring 2010 oceanography course; 20 studentsWritten prompt: “What does ‘critical thinking’ mean?”

33% responded: “Thinking outside the box.”

[Think for a few seconds about how a geologist would think critically about this outcrop.]

Realization #3: Students need more models and repetition in the classroom to prepare for the field.

Examples: 1: video tutorials of outcrop analysis2: field notebook guides 3: student co-inquirers

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3

Classroom strategies

Repetition with rocks, minerals, and photos before field trip.--skill of the day/photo of the day--This rock is ___. I know because ___. It formed ____.

Outcrop analysis training before field trip.--“What would this [feature] look like in the field?”--lab exercise: how to be a field geologist--written and oral thinkalouds

More models provided before field trip.--video tutorials of outcrop analysis--“yellow cards” (what to include in a field notebook entry)--hypothetical field notebook entries

Second semester video(some classroom changes implemented)

Context: Students attempt to locate same angular unconformity.

Field strategies

•Student co-inquirers with specific roles and responsibilities

•Allow more processing time; avoid rapid questioning

•In some cases, instructor walks away (really difficult!)

•Thinkalouds in the field

Hardworking students: not an instructor in sight

•No lecturing: students “tell the story” at end of stop

Third semester video(substantial classroom and field instruction changes made)

Context: Students attempt to identify rhyolite tuff.

In class, they had successfully identified rhyolite tuff and demonstrated understanding of tuff formation

and characteristics.

However, this particular tuff is much richer in lithic fragments than the tuff they identified in class.