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Southern Rio Grande Rift Kinematics And Geochronology, Big Bend Fold Geometry, And The Use Of Real Data In Geoscience Education: Contributions To The Understanding Of Big Bend Geology And To Public Geoscientific Literacy, Jessica Kelsch

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Big Bend region of Trans-Pecos Texas preserves a rich record of Rio Grande rifting and Laramide-age contraction that provide intrigue to national and state park visitors and field trips for undergraduate geology students. Despite its well-exposed geologic record, the Big Bend region remains an underutilized natural laboratory for studying these two tectonic events. This dissertation combines structural studies of Rio Grande rift and Laramide structures with public outreach and geoscience education studies focused on the Big Bend region. In Chapter 2, existing extensional-kinematic studies from parts of this region are compiled with new fault kinematic and U-Pb geochronologic data …

Natural, Experimental, And Educational Explorations Of The Interiors Of Terrestrial Planetary Bodies, Nadine L. Grambling

Doctoral Dissertations

Planetary interiors are enigmatic, inaccessible, and vital to the processes that have formed the rocks we see on the surface of bodies in the inner Solar System today. Based on geophysical explorations of the Moon and Earth, along with information gleaned from rocks at the surface today, there is understanding of the basic structure and processes at depth. Using a combination of natural samples and experimental studies, we attempt to learn more about the physical conditions beneath the surface, and their effect on material properties and tectonics processes in the mantle.

On Earth, mid-ocean ridge processes have long been debated, …

Building Interest And Knowledge In Geosciences Through Place- & Field-Based Teacher Professional Learning Programs: A Comparative Multi-Case Study, Emily Gochis

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The focus of this study was to develop and evaluate a geoscience professional development model that would improve K-12 teachers’ capacity to effectively build geoscience literacy and interests in students from a variety of settings and cultural groups. The research compared the application of a geoscience professional development model realized through multiple case studies of varying settings and scales. The study investigated the capacity of each approach in improving teachers’ geoscience background knowledge, awareness of local geologically and culturally significant examples, and ability to integrate place-based, field investigations into standards-based curricula. By using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the study …