Geology, Dickinson College
Program Design & Assessment
Overview
We require a total of ten courses in Geology (see below) for a geology major, including two introductory level classes and six 'core' courses. A geology minor requires six geology courses. This is our only geoscience curriculum at present. We recently suggested starting an Environmental Geology major but the proposal was not approved by the College's Academic Programing Committee.
Strengths of this program
Our program was designed to give students a particularly strong grounding in field geology and geochemistry within the Liberal Arts context. It needs to serve as an entryway into graduate school and the workplace.
Types of students served
Program Goals
The goals of this program are as follows:
This curriculum was formulated many years before two of the four faculty in the department arrived. We are presently working to more clearly formulate what our goals should be.
The learning goals were informed by the following resources:
How program goals are assessed
We are presently working to construct proper assessment tools.
Design features that allow goals to be met
Alumni Careers
Graduation rate
Careers pursued by our alumni
Courses and Sequencing
Diagram of course sequencing and requirements
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Entry into the program
- History of Life
- Geology of National Parks
- Planet Earth
- Global Climate Change
- Geology of Natural Disasters
- Earth Systems Science
Core courses
- Mineralogy
- Petrology
- Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
- Chemistry of Earth Systems
- Field Geology
- Structural Geology
Electives
Students are required to take 2 credits (2 courses) of electives. These vary as we have a variety of courses taught as topics courses, and many students do Independent Research or Independent Study.Other required courses
- One semester of Chemistry
Capstone
- Senior Research or Internship
Other key features of this program:
Detailed_Dept_Curr (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 204kB May19 09)