Teaching Structural Geology in the Field


Field experiences are a critical part of a geoscience student's education and have long been one of the foundations of geoscience education. Below, you will find links to presentations, posters, and teaching activities presented by participants at several workshops that speak to a variety of ways they have taught structure with and through field work.

Jump Down To: Field Guides and Databases


Structure in the Field

Integration of Field and Laboratory Exercises into a One-Year Sed/Strat and Structure Course Leading to a Capstone Field Mapping Project (PowerPoint 11.2MB Aug16 10)
Larry Malinconico and David Sunderlin, Lafayette College
Teaching Geoscience in the Field 2010

Geology of the Maine Coast by Sea Kayak: a field methods course (PowerPoint 4.9MB Aug14 10)
Dykstra Eusden, Bates College
Teaching Geoscience in the Field 2010

A Field Mapping Exercise to Emphasize the Interpretive Nature of Bedrock Geologic Maps in Glaciated Terranes (Acrobat (PDF) 11.1MB Aug24 10)
Jim Miller, University of Minnesota Duluth
Teaching Geoscience in the Field 2010

Measurement of compass orientations of rock fractures
Thomas W. Oesleby, Northwest College
Using Field Observations and Experiences to Teach Geoscience 2004

Field Guides and Databases

The NAGT Field Trip Collection contains more than 50 field trips and examples. The examples in this collection share information about the design of the trips and their important characteristics in addition to providing easy access to field guides. In addition, you can find information for teaching in the field in these other collections:

  • Field Trip Safety: This page in the Cutting Edge Teaching in the Field module presents guidance and example policies and forms for addressing safety concerns when taking geoscience students into the field to learn.
  • The Montana-Yellowstone Geologic Field Guide Database - The Montana-Yellowstone Geologic Field Guide Database is a pilot project for making the field guide literature more accessible and useful to geoscience educators, students, and researchers. While the database is not an exhaustive listing of every published field guide, nor does it provide direct links to the full text of each reference (except for a few unpublished field guides which are reproduced as pdf files), the database is a fully-searchable listing of 50 of the best references for exploring the geology of this fascinating region.
  • NAGT's Far West Section Publications
  • Field Guides - Illustrated field guides for sites near Bozeman and Big Sky, MT.
  • Geologic Guidebooks of North America Database: This database from AGI and the Geoscience Information Society contains bibliographic references and location for published field guides.
  • The University of Texas at Austin has compiled a substantial e-library of field trip guides (more info) on their Walter Geology Library website.