Sheila Roberts

Bowling Green State University

The earth; physical and historical geology; including economic, social and environmental aspects. Not open to geology majors and minors. Credit allowed for no more than one: GEOL 1000, GEOL 1010, GEOL 1040. Applicable to the BG Perspective (general education) natural sciences requirement. Approved for online delivery.

University with graduate programs, primarily masters programs

31-70

Blackboard

This is an introductory physical/historical geology course with no lab and no prerequisites. It does not serve as a prerequisite for other courses. Almost all students take the course to satisfy a gen ed requirement. The course is offered both face-to-face and online.

• Module 1: Earth Materials
• Module 2: Subsurface processes
• Module 3: Surficial processes
• Module 4: Introduction to historical geology

The content is basically the same in the face-to-face and online sections I teach.

• Understand the basic principles of physical and historical geology
• Understand the theory of plate tectonics
• Understand surficial processes and the impact of human activities on surficial processes
• Understand the theory of evolution
• Understand the history of life on Earth

Yes. Discussions are related to the couse material (e.g. glaciers as a water supply in the surface processes module).

Assessment is based on

• quiz and exam grades
• homework assignments
• online discussions
• student evaluations of course/instructor with questions about the online environment

Adaptations have been made that allow this course to be successful in an online environment

Instead of in-class discussions, I have online discussions. My Powerpoint slides are also more complete because I do not talk about them.

The most successful elements of this course are:

The online discussions are effective for many of the students. As the course progresses, I can see the students are beginning to understand the concepts presented in class and how they apply to real problems.

Recommendations for faculty who teach a course like this:

Make it clear to students that the online course is not easier than a face-go-face course. Make deadlines for turning in work--I have found that a significant percentate of students put everything off until the last possible moment. If there were no deadlines, I fear they wouldn't do anything until the last week of the coruse.

Syllabus for GEOL 1000 (Acrobat (PDF) 59kB Jun21 10)

Textbook

The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution, Fifth Edition, Monroe and Wicander

Other References

There are a number of online readings for students to read. Some are from the USGS website, some from the Ohio Geological Survey, some from the EPA, and some from online newspapers and journals.