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Weaving The Curriculum Tapestry: Modifying Upper Level Courses To Facilitate Integration Across The Geology Program, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac
Weaving The Curriculum Tapestry: Modifying Upper Level Courses To Facilitate Integration Across The Geology Program, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac
Faculty Scholarship – Geology
Having observed students' frequent struggles to acquire mastery of content and skills in upper-level geology courses, we noted students fail to weave together the diverse strands that produce a well-educated geoscientist. After observing students’ struggles to keep up with new content and skills, we determined a course of action that includes application of best pedagogy based on educational research. We incorporate a technique of spiraling basic content and skills across the geology curriculum: content and skills introduced in the entry-level geology course are intentionally reviewed and referenced in each upper-level course.
Facilitating Integration Across The Geology Program: Applying "Weaving The Curriculum" To Petrology And Structural Geology Courses, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac
Facilitating Integration Across The Geology Program: Applying "Weaving The Curriculum" To Petrology And Structural Geology Courses, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac
Faculty Scholarship – Geology
Students often encounter difficulty with advanced material in upper-level geology courses. We identified several trends that arise at the beginning of upper-level courses including difficulty in connecting introductory course material to deeper content, integrating skills and knowledge from supporting courses, and integrating material between upper-level courses. Redesigning upper-level courses, we intentionally incorporate relevant material from introductory geoscience courses into upper-level courses, such that students are re-exposed to fundamental concepts they need to master as more advanced concepts are taught.
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Publications and Research
Growing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in-depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified version of Bishop and Anderson's (Bishop and Anderson [1990] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 27: 415-427) open-response test that we call the Open Response Instrument (ORI), and an oral interview derived from both instruments, to measure biology majors' understanding of and alternative conceptions about natural selection. We explored how these instruments …