Diagrams and Test Files for Use in Introductory Geology Courses

Abstract

In geology textbooks and lectures at the introductory levels numerous photographs and diagrams are used as an integral part of the presentation. Students are shown by repeated exposure to such illustrations that understanding the diagrams and observing and making geological interpretations from photographs are essential to a proper understanding of geological principles. However, during examinations students are seldom tested on diagrams and photographs. If such testing is done at all, it is certainly not done at the same depth and to a similar extent as presented in lectures and textbooks. Occasionally students may be asked to include diagrams to supplement their answers. As a result, students in introductory geology courses fail to see the importance of much of what is discussed in class since they are seldom tested on it. This contradictory methodology does not send the desired educational signal and does not convey the message we want to send as to the nature and importance of these skills.