Carol Ormand

Geoscience Education Specialist

Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College
608-213-1618; cormand@carleton.edu
Projects * Publications * Experience * Education * Hobbies

Projects

On the Cutting Edge

I started working for SERC in the fall of 2005. I had been a visiting assistant professor at a couple of small liberal arts colleges for the previous five years, so I was well-prepared for my first assignment: developing websites of resources for Early Career Faculty in the Geosciences and for graduate students and postdocs Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences. I also help facilitate the associated Cutting Edge workshops. Over the years, I have also helped facilitate our workshops and developed the Cutting Edge websites on the Role of Metacognition in Teaching Geoscience and on Developing Student Understanding of Complex Systems in the Geosciences. This year (2011) I am similarly involved in the Temporal Learning Journal Club (including building our web resources on teaching and learning about geologic rates and time) and the workshop on Teaching Mineralogy, Petrology, and Geochemistry.

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• Teaching Mineralogy, Petrology, and Geochemistry in the 21st Century (2011)
• Temporal Learning Journal Club (2011)
• Developing Student Understanding of Complex Systems in the Geosciences (2010)
• The Role of Metacognition in Teaching Geoscience (2008)
• Early Career Geoscience Faculty: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• Preparing for An Academic Career in the Geosciences: Workshop for Graduate Students and Post-doctoral Fellows, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Building Strong Geoscience Departments

Over time, my responsibilities have expanded to include similar work for other projects, including our Building Strong Geoscience Departments project, on which I am now one of the PIs. My responsibilities include developing our online collections of resources and facilitating the associated workshops.

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• Visiting Workshop Program (2009-10 and 2010-11)
• Strengthening Your Geoscience Program: A Practical Workshop with Ideas and Examples (2009)
• Assessing Geoscience Programs: Theory and Practice (2009)
• Strategies for Successful Recruitment of Geoscience Majors: Conceptual Framework and Practical Suggestions (2007)
• Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science: New Structures for Research and Curriculum (2007)
• The Role of Departments in Preparing Future Geoscience Professionals (2007)

Research on Spatial Thinking

Since 2008, I've been involved in research on spatial thinking in the geosciences. I am currently working on two such projects. I am the lead PI on a project (with co-PIs Cathy Manduca, Basil Tikoff, and Tim Shipley) that is developing curricular materials to improve spatial thinking skills in upper-level undergraduate geoscience courses. (I will be developing a website for this project later in 2011.) The four of us are also involved in a research project through SILC: the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center. For this project, we are investigating the breadth of spatial thinking skills and characterizing their development in individuals ranging from novices to experts. For this project, I am coordinating classroom studies and developing a series of tests of a variety of spatial thinking skills.

Publications and Presentations

Geoscience Education

2011

• Cervato, Cinzia, Cathryn Manduca, David Mogk, Carol Ormand, Thomas Shipley, and Trisha Smrecak (2011). Rates, Dates, and Geologic Time: A Journal Club Report on Teaching About Temporal Aspects of Geoscience (Acrobat (PDF) 15.2MB Nov9 11): Geological Society of America annual meeting (Minneapolis, MN). See abstract.
• Fox, Sean, Ellen Iverson, Cathryn Manduca, Karin Kirk, John McDaris, Carol Ormand, and Monica Bruckner (2011). Supporting Faculty Learning About Teaching: The On the Cutting Edge Website: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Iverson, Ellen, Sabra Lee, Carol Ormand, Geoffrey Feiss, Heather Macdonald, Cathryn Manduca, and Randall Richardson (2011). Building Strong Geoscience Departments: Case Studies and Findings from Six Years of Programming: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Macdonald, Heather, Cathryn Manduca, Carol Ormand, Robyn Dunbar, Rachel Beane, Monica Bruckner, Timothy Bralower, Geoffrey Feiss, Barbara Tewksbury, and Katryn Wiese (2011). Preparing Future Geoscience Professionals: Needs, Strategies, Programs, and Online Resources: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Manduca, Cathryn, Timothy Bralower, Diane Clemens-Knott, Diane Doser, P. Geoffrey Feiss, R. Heather Macdonald, Carol Ormand, Dallas Rhodes, Randall M. Richardson, and Mary Savina (2011). Bringing Together Design and Evaluation to Understand Student Learning (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 3.9MB Nov7 11): Geological Society of America annual meeting (Minneapolis, MN). See abstract.
• Manduca, Cathryn, David Blockstein, Timothy Bralower, Diane Doser, Anne Egger, P. Geoffrey Feiss, David Gosselin, Pamela Matson, David McConnell, and Carol Ormand (2011). InTeGrate-ing Geoscience Learning in Undergraduate Education: Geological Society of America annual meeting (Minneapolis, MN). See abstract.
• Manduca, Cathryn, David Mogk, Kim Kastens, Basil Tikoff, Thomas Shipley, Carol Ormand, and David McConnell (2011). Geoscience Education Research: The Role of Collaborations with Education Researchers and Cognitive Scientists: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Murphy, Rachel, Carol Ormand, Laurel Goodwin, Thomas Shipley, Cathryn Manduca, and Basil Tikoff (2011). Improving Students' Visuo-Penetrative Thinking Skills Through Brief, Weekly Practice (Acrobat (PDF) 19.5MB Nov9 11): Geological Society of America annual meeting (Minneapolis, MN). See abstract.
• Ormand, Carol, Thomas Shipley, Cathryn Manduca, and Basil Tikoff (2011). Improving Geoscience Students' Spatial Thinking Skills: Applying Cognitive Science Research in the Classroom: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Ormand, Carol, Cathryn Manduca, Heather Macdonald, Timothy Bralower, Diane Clemens-Knott, Diane Doser, Geoffrey Feiss, Dallas Rhodes, Randall Richardson, and Mary Savina (2011). Building Strong Geoscience Departments Through the Visiting Workshop Program: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).
• Savina, Mary, Cherry Danielson, Deborah Gross, and Carol Ormand (2011). Imagining the "Ideal Student": Helping Faculty Focus on What's Really Important to Assess (Acrobat (PDF) 610kB Mar18 11): Association of American Colleges and Universities meeting on General Education and Assessment 3.0: Next-Level Practices Now (Chicago, IL). (Associated handout (Acrobat (PDF) 117kB Mar18 11).)
• Shipley, Thomas, Cathryn Manduca, Carol Ormand, and Basil Tikoff (2011). Spatiotemporal Thinking in the Geosciences: American Geophysical Union fall meeting (San Francisco, CA).

Structural Geology

• Czeck, Dyanna, and Carol J. Ormand (2007). Geometry and folding history of the Baraboo Syncline: Implications for the Mazatzal Orogeny in the north-central U.S.: Precambrian Research, v. 157, p. 203-213.
• Czeck, Dyanna, and Carol J. Ormand (2005). Using cleavage refraction, microstructural analysis, and mineralogy to learn about rheology in the Baraboo Quartzite: Geological Society of America annual meeting (Salt Lake City, UT). See abstract.
• Ormand, Carol J. and Peter J. Hudleston (2003). Strain paths of three small folds from the Appalachian Valley and Ridge, Maryland: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 25, p. 1841-1854, 2003.
• Ormand, Carol J. and Dyanna Czeck (2003). Structure and kinematics of the Baraboo Syncline: a three-dimensional analysis: Geological Society of America annual meeting (Seattle, WA).
• Ormand, Carol J. and Pam Olson (2001). An analysis of fault systems in an experimental stratigraphic basin, with a comparison to the Mid-Continent Rift System: Geological Society of America annual meeting (Boston, MA).

Experience

Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 2005-present
Visiting Assistant Professor, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, 2002-2005
Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI, 2000-2002
Graduate Assistant, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 1992-2000
Adjunct Instructor, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 1997

Education

Ph. D. in Structural Geology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2000

• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics

B. A. in Mathematics, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 1989

• Graduated Cum Laude; Member, Sigma Xi (Scientific Honor Society)

Hobbies

I'm a bit of a fanatic about traditional American contra and square dancing and music; to see what I mean, check out my dance homepage.

I also enjoy quilting. For my first quilting project, I combined these two interests and made a dance t-shirt quilt, as you can see in this photo. (Click on the image to see it up close and personal.)