GEOL 1003: Environmental Geology

Carolyn Dowling
, Arkansas State University

Summary

Environmental Geology is a survey of fundamental geologic processes and associated hazards (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, etc.) and the interactions of humans with the environment.

Course Type: Intro Level Environmental Geology
Course Size:

31-70

Course Format:

Students enroll in separate lecture and lab components. The lecture is taught by the professor and the lab is taught by TAs.

Institution Type:

Public four-year institution, primarily undergraduate

Course Context:

This is an introductory course with a very basic math pre-requisite (MATH 0013 or ACT 16) and does not serve as a prerequisite for other courses. One hundred percent of the students take the course to satisfy a general education requirement. The course has a lab that is not required but highly recommended.

In your department, do majors and non-majors take separate introductory courses? no
This is a general education course only. We do not have a geology major or minor.
If students take a "non-majors" course, and then decide to become a major, do they have to go back and take an additional introductory course? no

Course Content:

The first part of the course focuses on Geology with rocks and minerals, earthquakes, and volcanoes. The second part of the semester involves more Environmental Geology and includes topics such as streams, flooding, coasts, and mass movement. There are no field trips. Students learn the basic geologic processes, understand how our environment is interconnected, and recognize how we affect our local and global environments.

Course Goals:

Students learn the basic geologic processes, understand how our environment is interconnected, and recognize how we affect our local and global environments.

Course Features:

I try to incorporate one interactive assignment per week. These activities allow the students to become excited about geology and the environment.

Course Philosophy:

I try to make the class interactive where students want to come to class and actually learn something.

It's a general education only class so people take thinking it's "easy." Many students also come from high schools where geologic time and evolution are not taught or from churches where creationism is taught.