NAGT Looks at Summer Field Courses

Abstract

A questionnaire sent to all degree-granting geoscience departments in the United States and Canada reveals the following information about summer field courses in geology. A majority (81%) of summer field courses operates from either a permanent field station or a series of fixed sites. Most field courses are 4 to 8 weeks long, carry academic credit in a 1:1 ratio with course duration, in weeks, and utilize section measurement and description, work in metamorphic and igneous terrains, and geologic mapping of small simple to complex areas on aerial photographs and/or topographic maps as the chief mechanisms for instruction and learning in the field. Most departments (58%) who offer a field course during the academic year consider it as preparation for the summer field course. Summer field courses are required for graduation at roughly half (54%) of the departments in this country and Canada. Thirty-five percent of the departments recommend a summer field course and eleven percent treat it as optional. In g...