A Faculty Survey on Field Trips in Undergraduate Structural-Geology Courses

Abstract

A survey designed to determine the various activities, logistics, and pedagogical approaches that faculty employ on course-related field trips was sent to faculty who teach undergraduate structural-geology courses in the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America. This paper describes the results and discusses the significance of the survey. Seventy-five colleges and universities were sent a questionnaire, and thirty faculty members responded. Eighty-six percent of respondents regularly run a required field trip as part of their structural-geology courses. Only sedimentology/stratigraphy field trips (100%) are more commonly required.Approximately 90% of structural-geology field trips require at least two days in the field, and more than 70% require travel of at least three hours to reach their destination. The most common destination for trips in the area surveyed is Baraboo, Wisconsin (48%). Department funds pay the transportation costs for most (66%) trips. About 55% of leaders give pre-trip lectures, and 63% provide students with a field guide. Most trips (80%) involve the use of discovery rather than lecture-based exercises. The exercises include gathering structural information, taking field notes, and constructing a geologic map. Virtually all respondents commented that field trips in geology courses are essential, and, in an era of diminishing financial support for such trips, these findings constitute a strong argument that course field trips are indispensable in an undergraduate geoscience curriculum.