Undergraduate Geology Research Articles

G.H. Sawkar Endowment National Level Undergraduate Geology & Geography Faculty Development Programme (Field Work based Training Programme)

G.H. Sawkar Endowment National Level Undergraduate Geology & Geography Faculty Development Programme (Field Work based Training Programme)

Geoscience undergraduate students’ perceptions of how field work and practical skills influence their conceptual understanding and subject interest

We present a quantitative study of responses to voluntary and anonymous surveys of undergraduate geology students enrolled at an English-medium, research university in South Africa. This research captured student interest in geology, their perceived level of understanding of key geological concepts, and the extent to which in-class and in-field experiences impacts both. The first survey was prior to undergraduate field trips (May 2021) and was followed by the post-field second survey (November 2021). The surveys included Likert-type responses, multiple choice responses, and open-ended qualitative comments from the students. Of the total responses (n = 147), 83% knew “a little” about geology before starting their degree, and most (63%) chose to study geology because of an inherent interest in the earth. Up to 40% of students perceived that practicals helped them to better understand theoretical content, including key geological concepts. Of the five key geological concepts examined, the students felt that plate tectonics, age relationships, and uniformitarianism were “easy” to grasp, but deep time and 3-D perception could only be understood once in their fourth year. Field experiences were perceived to improve students’ conceptual understanding of all five concepts, and this study suggests that field work enhances student interest in geology. However, further interest can be promoted using more in-field exercises and hands-on practicals dealing with real-world geological situations. Overall, the results suggest that in-field and practical abilities in geology remain critical, as they stimulate understanding of key concepts and, if pitched correctly, generate and sustain the interest of geoscience students.

V3Geo: a cloud-based repository for virtual 3D models in geoscience

Abstract. V3Geo is a cloud-based repository for publishing virtual 3D models in geoscience. The system allows storage, search and visualisation of mesh models typically acquired using techniques such as photogrammetry and laser scanning. The platform has been developed to handle models at the range of scales typically used by geoscientists from microscopic, hand samples and fossils through to outcrop sections or terrain covering metres to tens of kilometres. The cloud storage system serves the models to a purpose-built 3D web viewer. Models are tiled to ensure efficient streaming over the Internet. The web viewer allows 3D models to be interactively explored without the need for specialist software to be installed. A measurement tool enables users to gauge simple dimensions, such as widths, thicknesses, and fault throws. V3Geo allows very large models comprising multiple sections and is designed to include additional interpretation layers. The specific focus on geoscience data is supported by defined metadata and a classification schema. Public and private storage is available, and public models are assigned Creative Commons licenses to govern content usage. This paper presents V3Geo as a sustainable resource for the geoscience community, including the motivation and main characteristics and features. Example usage scenarios are highlighted: from undergraduate geology teaching, supporting virtual geoscience education and preparing virtual field trips based on V3Geo models. Finally, best practice guidelines for preparing 3D model contributions for publication on V3Geo are included as the Appendix.

The reasons women choose and stay in a geology major: a qualitative multi-case analysis

Despite earning half of all science and engineering undergraduate degrees between 2007 and 2016 in the USA, women were awarded only 39% of earth science degrees in the same time period. In order to better understand why women are both choosing and staying in geology programs, we conducted a multi-case study of nine current female undergraduate geology majors at a large public university in the USA within a department that is at gender parity among its undergraduate majors. The main data source was audio-recorded critical incident interviews of each participant. Data from the interviews were analyzed through an iterative coding process using codes adapted from previous studies that focused on factors both internal and external to the department. The students said that personal interests, influence by others outside of the department, and introductory classes attracted them to the geology program, but once declared, departmental factors such as relationship with faculty caused them to stay. We also found an emphasis on female role models, especially those teaching introductory courses. We believe this study offers important insights into the ways in which factors leading to recruitment and retention play out in the lived experiences of female geology majors.

Geogymkhana-Alicante (Spain): Geoheritage Through Education

In recent years, the dissemination of geoheritage has made great strides in Spain, both at the legislative and outreach levels. As part of these efforts, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alicante organizes various activities to promote and enhance the learning of geology and the geoheritage of Alicante Province (Spain). One of these activities is Geogymkhana-Alicante, a key initiative for secondary schools that combines scientific, playful, and didactic elements. Organized annually since 2012, around 8000 students from 74 secondary schools have participated. The Geogymkhana consists of 10 guided stops along a 3 km-long coastal itinerary near Alicante city. These high-quality easily accessible outcrops are relatively close to numerous secondary schools, thereby allowing students to learn about their local geoheritage. The Geogymkhana is run by about 50 staff, including professors, undergraduate geology students, and other support staff from the university. Diverse pedagogical strategies create an enjoyable, yet scientifically sound, educational itinerary. Some stops (such as the “Miocene Strata” or “Discontinuous Geological Record”) comprise mainly explanations, whereas other stops (such as “Geological Time Race” or “Human Stratigraphic Superposition”) are based on games and dynamic activities. In short, Geogymkhana-Alicante is an effective tool to spread geoheritage knowledge amongst secondary school students. Moreover, it offers an inspiring model for implementation in other locations.

Earth science education: The current state of play

Earth science education: The current state of play

Increasing accessibility and inclusion in undergraduate geology labs through scenario-based TA training

People with disabilities are chronically underrepresented in many geoscience departments across the country. There are a number of proposed reasons why this underrepresentation persists, one of which is lack of instructor training in designing accessible curriculum and making high-quality accommodations. This not only puts students with accessibility needs at a disadvantage academically but also creates an unwelcoming environment. We determined through a broad survey of the instructors and undergraduate students that the geology department at a large research-focused university lacked sufficient instructor training on accessibility-related topics. We designed and implemented a scenario-based training at the university department scale to begin correcting the lack of training. Our training was designed for and given to teaching assistants (TAs), and we assessed the effectiveness of our training by measuring TA knowledge gain and retention throughout the fall 2017 semester; comparing the number of students approaching TAs with accessibility needs in the training year to years prior to the training; and gauging undergraduate feelings of inclusion throughout semester via a series of minute-paper style surveys. Our results show an increased baseline understanding of universal design and semester-long retention of that knowledge. The number of students approaching TAs with accessibility needs increased compared to years prior to the training, and undergraduates reported overall feeling that their TAs had a genuine interest in their learning as individuals. We conclude that our results merit the inclusion of an accessibility focused TA training in the annual training schedule.

Does Sketching promote student learning? A review on undergraduate geology students

Sketching is an important way in science and other disciplines for illustrating complex concepts with more digestible formats and has therefore long been engrained in the field of Geology either for research or teaching purposes. The following report outlines an assessment of a compulsory second year undergraduate geology module where illustrations are implemented and form a key part of the student’s learning process. The intended learning outcomes are assessed through the submission of a practical folder and an exam including a practical component. The module receives critical but highly positive reviews from the student cohort who achieve overall good marks. However, a key difference in student performance between the practical components of the exam compared to that of the coursework is apparent. Practical components are problem-based and intended to offer the students an opportunity to engage with the complexity of a given task and sketching is intended to increase the student-learning process through exploration. The benefits of sketching are unequivocally clear but it remains open whether students use illustrations to enhance the learning process to their full potential. Introduction of a learning-cycle approach appeared to have improved student performance and is recommended to promote student learning.

Improving spatial thinking skills among undergraduate geology students through short online training exercises

ABSTRACTSpatial reasoning is a critical skill in the Geosciences. Using a randomized control study with 592 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory and advanced Geology courses, our data indicates that regular, short interventions throughout an academic semester improve students’ spatial thinking skills significantly with a moderate to large effect size when compared to an instruction-as-usual control group. We found evidence for additional gains in students who participated also in hands-on training interventions. We found even larger training effects on students who achieved correct scores of >50% on the practice modules, with gains of almost three-quarter of a standard deviation relative to their baseline scores. Male and female students display significant differences in spatial skills, with males outperforming females. Training resulted in similar magnitudes of improvement in both genders, so we see no evidence that the interventions closed the gender gap. Using the initial performance as a baseline, poor performers’ spatial skills appear to improve through practice at the same rate as their peers. We argue that 15.4% of students improve their spatial skills through participation in the training towards a threshold that appears to be critical for participation in STEM careers. On a reflection survey, half of the students reported that they felt their spatial thinking skills improved through their participation, and over a third found the training beneficial for their overall learning in Geology or other classes. We hypothesise that formal training opportunities for spatial reasoning could increase the potential pool of students who successfully enter and succeed in Geoscience careers.

Reasons undergraduate students majored in geology across six universities: The importance of gender and department

Only 40% of geoscience undergraduate degrees are conferred on women. Little research has examined why more men tend to pursue and persist in geology degrees compared to women. We examined the reasons why undergraduate geology students chose to major in geology, with a particular emphasis on women. We collected data from 391 undergraduate students (46.4% women) enrolled in six geology departments at public, four-year institutions across the United States. Students reported six reasons they were attracted to geology: interest, career opportunities, liking the outdoors, liking the department, being encouraged by someone, and other. Interest was the most frequent reason female and male students reported for being attracted to geology. After interest, liking the geology department (including liking classes, faculty, and the department overall) was the next most frequent reason female students reported for selecting a geology major. It was the second to least frequent reason for male students. Both female and male students in departments graduating a higher percentage of women more frequently reported liking the department as a reason for being attracted to geology than did students in departments graduating lower percentages of women. Geology departments have the potential to impact the recruitment and retention of students, particularly women, into their programs. Future research is needed to identify the specific department practices that attract female students and provide a more welcoming climate to students.

An exploratory study examining undergraduate geology students’ conceptions related to geologic time and rates

ABSTRACTPast research has evaluated how preservice teachers, high school students, and introductory college students conceptualize geologic or deep time. The ability to think on geologic timescales is regarded as an important skill in the study of geology, yet little work has specifically addressed how student understanding of this concept evolves during the undergraduate experience and beyond. We describe an exploratory, preexperimental study conducted at a large research university investigating student knowledge of various Earth history and geologic time concepts among geology majors. A 21-question pre/posttest was constructed to assess concepts related to landscape identification, landscape formation rates, Earth history, the geologic timescale, and relative and absolute dating. Pre/posttesting was conducted across four semesters within a variety of courses including historical geology, structural geology, geomorphology, and a geology field camp course. Data were also collected from a group of nonmajors in an introductory physical geology course to obtain a novice score and from a group of faculty expert geoscientists at the Geological Society of America annual meeting to obtain an expert score on the instrument. Additionally, interviews were conducted with 11 senior geology majors to gain a deeper understanding of their conceptions related to a sample of the concepts assessed. Results show that students make the largest gains after taking physical and historical geology courses, but no significant changes were seen in upper-level geology courses. Many geology students lacked familiarity with the geologic timescale and had difficulty estimating formation rates of landscapes formed on intermediate timespans.

Applications of high-resolution topography in Earth science education

High-resolution topography (HRT) provides Earth scientists the opportunity to measure landscapes at unprecedented meter to submeter resolutions. HRT also enables use of new quantitative tools that explore landscape structure and evolution. The wide applications for HRT products in research have motivated Earth science educators to evaluate their usefulness for teaching concepts such as plate tectonics, faulting, and landscape change. This study assesses the usefulness of HRT as an educational tool for teaching Earth science concepts. The application of HRT to Earth science education is motivated by concepts outlined in undergraduate geology textbooks, the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards, and the Earth Science Literary Initiative. We developed three activities using HRT to assess its educational value. An exploratory study involving undergraduate students assesses their ability to evaluate and interpret the landscape in HRT shaded-relief image versus aerial photography. The hillshades allow novice learners to focus more directly on the landscape, enabling faster and more accurate interpretations of geologic features. In addition, an educational video on HRT and an exercise exploring the earthquake cycle with HRT were tested in undergraduate introductory geology classes. Students who used educational tools involving HRT increased their understanding of the earthquake cycle and HRT for studying earthquakes. Novice Earth science students who use HRT improve their ability to evaluate topography for geologic features and come to accurate conclusions about landscape evolution. These positive outcomes are possible because of the fine scale at which topography can be examined without visual distractors within HRT.

Mobile Learning em aulas de campo: um estudo de caso em Geologia

Field trips favor learning by improving student observation, discovery, and communication skills, increased understanding of content and expansion of learning possibilities through real experiences. However, during field trips, students and teachers face obstacles that may compromise the results of these educational practices, such as insufficient content or student dispersal. In this sense, mobile technologies have been used to overcome existing difficulties and extend the benefits of field trips by providing tools that expand the resources for student learning. This paper describes a case study conducted in a field class of an undergraduate geology course in which students used mobile technologies to aid in learning about geological mapping. After use in real situations, the seventeen students answered a structured evaluation instrument. The students' responses to the questionnaire were favorable and show the approval of the mobile technologies in field. The SUS score (usability) of 83.4 was obtained for the mobile application tested and 88% of the students stated that a solution made it possible to perform field learning tasks more efficiently. In addition, the positive evaluation of the teacher participating in the study and the finding of effective use of the mobile application by all students indicate that mobile technologies have the potential to become important tools in support of field trips of geology.

Novel Way in Teaching Introductory Soil Science

The importance of soils is often underemphasized in introductory undergraduate geology courses, despite their relevance to students and the communities in which they live. The high agricultural productivity of United States and the economic well-being of many of its communities are dependent on the physical properties of soils, as well as agricultural practices, human and natural history, and climate. Although this could be realized through lectures and memorization, in order to achieve the metacognitive changes necessary to promote long-term understanding and behavioral change associated with resource planning and conservation, learning activities that promote a deep approach rather than a surface approach to learning must be utilized, so that students are engaged in activities in which they are actively searching for meaning, rather than engaging in rote memorization. This paper discusses a teaching method in which the learning objectives, activities, and assessment are aligned to achieve this aim and presents evidence of its efficacy over seven years of its use.

An Introduction to Marine Sediments with an Emphasis on Sediment Organic Matter Remineralization

SummaryThe processes occurring in the upper several meters of marine sediments have a profound effect on the local and global cycling of many elements. For example, the balance between organic carbon preservation and remineralization in sediments represents the key link between carbon cycling in active, surface reservoirs in the oceans, atmosphere, and on land, and carbon that cycles on much longer, geological time scales, i.e., in sedimentary rock, and in coal and petroleum deposits. Understanding processes occurring in surficial marine sediment is also important in the accurate interpretation of paleoceanographic sediment records, since sediment processes can sometimes significantly alter the primary “depositional” signal recorded in the sediments. In coastal and estuarine sediments nitrogen and phosphorus remineralization in the sediments can provide a significant fraction of the nutrients required by primary producers in the water column. Similarly, in coastal and estuarine sediments subjected to elevated anthropogenic inputs of certain toxic metals, sediment processes affect the extent to which these sediments represent “permanent” versus “temporary” sinks for these metals.The geochemistry of marine sediments is controlled by both the composition of the material initially deposited in the sediments and the chemical, biological or physical processes that affect this material after its deposition. These processes fall within the general category of what is commonly referred to as early diagenesis. One very crucial aspect of the study of early diagenesis in marine sediments is that the oxidation, or remineralization, of organic matter deposited in the sediments is either the direct or indirect causative agent for many of these early diagenetic changes. Given this pivotal role that organic matter remineralization plays in many early diagenetic processes, significant efforts have gone into understanding and quantifying these processes.This lecture provides a brief introduction to marine sediment geochemistry focusing on the basic controls on organic matter remineralization in sediments. It is based on a lecture I recently gave to an undergraduate geology class in stratigraphy. I believe that it could also be useful in an undergraduate class in general oceanography, low temperature geochemistry or environmental geochemistry.Lecture summaryThe geochemistry of marine sediments is controlled by both the composition of the material initially deposited in the sediments and the chemical, biological or physical processes that affect this material after its deposition. These processes fall within the general category of what is commonly referred to as early diagenesis. One key aspect of the study of early diagenesis in marine sediments is that the oxidation, or remineralization, of sediment organic matter is either the direct or indirect causative agent for many early diagenetic changes.Given the pivotal role that organic matter remineralization plays in early diagenetic processes, significant efforts have gone into understanding and quantifying these processes. This lecture provides a brief introduction to marine sediment geochemistry, focusing on the basic controls of organic matter remineralization in sediments. I believe that the lecture could be useful in an undergraduate class in general oceanography, low temperature geochemistry or environmental geochemistry. It could also be useful in introductory graduate classes in these latter two areas.

Undergraduates Discovering Folds in “Flat” Strata: An Unusual Undergraduate Geology Field Methods Course

ABSTRACTUndergraduates learned to measure, map, and interpret bedding plane attitudes during a semesterlong geology field methods course in a field area where strata dip less than 9°. Despite the low dip of the strata, 2011 field course students discovered a half-kilometer-wide structural basin by using digital levels and Brunton pocket transits to measure bedding plane attitudes at numerous outcrops along a riparian greenway. Students reproduced faculty dip directions in all five structural domains and mean bedding plane attitudes in four of five structural domains (p < 0.05). Of 21 students who completed a field map, only 6 had trouble either measuring and plotting attitudes or drawing and labeling geologic contacts. The mean student evaluation score was 4.1 on a 5-point scale, and all seven evaluation category means were well within one standard deviation of departmental means. However, the course evaluated poorly relative to the other five junior- and senior-level geology courses taught during fall 2011 because mean evaluation scores for those courses ranged from 4.2 to 4.9. Results show that students can learn to measure, map, and interpret bedding plane attitudes in a field area where strata dip less than 10°.

Virtual Petrographic Microscope: a multi-platform education and research software tool to analyse rock thin-sections

We present a free, standalone Windows and Mac OSX desktop software tool designed to aid geoscience researchers, students and educators in rock thin-section analysis without the need for a petrographic microscope. Virtual Petrographic Microscope (VPM) allows a user to analyse prepared high-resolution images of rock thin-sections on a computer using traditional features familiar to users of microscopes including stage rotation, objective zoom and switching between plane-polarised light and crossed-polarised light. VPM includes a range of ‘virtual’ features not possible when analysing physical thin-sections, including auto-scaling grid overlays, and annotation of thin-section images with the ability to save, export and import annotation files for collaboration and education. A case study involved a trial of the software by an intermediate undergraduate geology class. Analysis of the final examination results shows that incorporation of the VPM tool into the class program improved skill at recognising common rock-forming minerals.

Evaluating Geoscience Students' Spatial Thinking Skills in a Multi-Institutional Classroom Study

ABSTRACT Spatial thinking skills are critical to success in many subdisciplines of the geosciences. We tested students' spatial skills in geoscience courses at three institutions (a public research university, a comprehensive university, and a liberal arts college, all in the midwest) over a two-year period. We administered standard psychometric tests of spatial skills to students in introductory geology, mineralogy, sedimentology and stratigraphy, hydrogeology, structural geology, and tectonics courses. In addition, in some courses we administered a related spatial skills test with geoscience content. In both introductory and upper level undergraduate geology courses, students' skills vary enormously as measured by several spatial thinking instruments. Additionally, students' spatial skills generally improve only slightly during one academic term, in both introductory and advanced geoscience classes. More unexpectedly, while there was a tendency for high-performing students to be adept at multiple spatial skills, many individual students showed strong performance on tests of one spatial skill (e.g., rotation) but not on others (e.g., penetrative thinking). This result supports the contention that spatial problem solving requires a suite of spatial skills, and no single test is a good predictor of “spatial thinking.”

Mars for Earthlings: An Analog Approach to Mars in Undergraduate Education

Mars for Earthlings (MFE) is a terrestrial Earth analog pedagogical approach to teaching undergraduate geology, planetary science, and astrobiology. MFE utilizes Earth analogs to teach Mars planetary concepts, with a foundational backbone in Earth science principles. The field of planetary science is rapidly changing with new technologies and higher-resolution data sets. Thus, it is increasingly important to understand geological concepts and processes for interpreting Mars data. MFE curriculum is topically driven to facilitate easy integration of content into new or existing courses. The Earth-Mars systems approach explores planetary origins, Mars missions, rocks and minerals, active driving forces/tectonics, surface sculpting processes, astrobiology, future explorations, and hot topics in an inquiry-driven environment. Curriculum leverages heavily upon multimedia resources, software programs such as Google Mars and JMARS, as well as NASA mission data such as THEMIS, HiRISE, CRISM, and rover images. Two years of MFE class evaluation data suggest that science literacy and general interest in Mars geology and astrobiology topics increased after participation in the MFE curriculum. Students also used newly developed skills to create a Mars mission team presentation. The MFE curriculum, learning modules, and resources are available online at http://serc.carleton.edu/marsforearthlings/index.html.

Beyond map view: teaching the conceptualisation and visualisation of geology through 3D and 4D geological models

AbstractThe ability to visualise geological structures in three dimensions is an important skill developed during an undergraduate student's geology course. These visualisation skills include the ability to conceptualise a 3D model from a 2D geological map. A further higher order skill is to ‘see’ how 3D geological structures develop through time. To assist undergraduate students to improve competence in these key visualisation skills, and to aid university teachers, we present a series of interactive 3D digital models of geological structures. The geological models can be forward modelled and restored, allowing the user to visualise the formation and evolution of geological structures and relate this to the final model geometry and map pattern.