Undergraduate introductory course in geoscience

Students should be introduced to groundwater concepts.

We have used this activity as a homework assignment after the topic is introduced in lecture and reading, but it could also be used in class, in lab, or as group work.

Groundwater, the water table, and groundwater flow

Penetrative thinking, dynamic processes, cause and effect

This worksheet focuses on groundwater concepts; how it flows in the subsurface and how the water table level can change. Students are given 3 cross-sections of the same groundwater system, which contains a valley with a stream and lake along with ten wells. Each well has a mark to show the height of the water table. Students use the water table marks to draw the top of the water table for this system. Students also move and place 4 arrows to show the direction of groundwater flow at particular wells. For the remaining cross-sections, students draw the water table level during a drought (10 ft drop in the water table) and during the over-production of 2 wells (cone of depression at each). Lastly, students complete 4 multiple-choice questions. Our aim is for students to use the tasks and the worksheet tutor to understand the water table and how it can change.

This worksheet uses the sketch-understanding program with built-in tutor: CogSketch. Therefore, students, instructors, and/or institution computer labs need to download the program from here: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/. At any point during the worksheet, students can click the FEEDBACK button and their sketch is compared to the solution image. The built-in tutor identifies any discrepancies and reports pre-written feedback to help the student correct their sketch until they are done with the activity. Once worksheets are emailed to the instructor, worksheets can be batch graded and easily evaluated. This program allows instructors to assign sketching activities that require very little time commitment. Instead, the built-in tutor provides feedback whenever the student requests, without the presence of the instructor. More information on using the program and the activity is in the Instructor's Notes.

We have developed approximately two dozen introductory geoscience worksheets using this program. Each worksheet has a background image and instructions for a sketching task. You can find additional worksheets by searching for "CogSketch" using the search box at the top of this page. We expect to have uploaded all of them by the end of the summer of 2016.

CogSketch has a gradebook feature that allows instructors to batch grade worksheets using the defined rubric in the worksheet. Once graded, instructors can also open all the sketches and evaluate student work. Instructions are given in the Instructor's Notes.

Download CogSketch: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/