The Environmental Geology Curriculum

Abstract

Since 1970, environmental geology has taken a place in the curriculum of an increasing number of colleges and universities. Unlike the traditional geology major, however, no standard curriculum has emerged for these programs. Analysis of the content of the 1977 Geology Area Graduate Record Examination and the Geology Test of the Undergraduate Assessment Program indicates that an Environmental Geology emphasis was not assessed in either evaluation. Component areas such as engineering geology, hydrogeology, and aqueous geochemistry were notably absent in the Undergraduate Assessment Program. Proponents of environmental geology programs need to address several problems. (1) The curriculum needs standardization to provide educational continuity among universities. (2) Since the Geology Area Examinations of the Educational Testing Service are used both for student evaluation and programmatic evaluation, the current lack of environmental geology curriculum components leads to poorer student performance and misi...