Teaching structural geology and tectonics

A community conversation about challenges and opportunities in teaching structural geology & tectonics in 2024, including in the field.

Some existing resources

(5 minute overview and introduction to activity)

Broad topic areas

(15 minutes to explore resources and put ideas on sticky notes)

For each broad topic area, add sticky notes with your thoughts about (1) what resources you'd like to have, (2) what research questions you are interested in, (3) challenges you have had, or (4) successes you've had. If your thoughts don't fit into one of the broad themes, put them on the "other" sheet.

  • Teaching concepts and skills in structural geology and tectonics
  • Fitting structural geology and tectonics into the curriculum
  • Teaching in the real and virtual field
  • Teaching computer-based applications and skills
  • Other

Small groups

(20 minutes)

In your small groups, organize the comments and sticky notes into themes and discuss. Prepare to report out from your group about your findings.

Report out

Teaching concepts and skills in structural geology and tectonics

  • Successes:
    • Giving students their own project to synthesize data: investigating, anlyzing, and interpreting the significance
  • Challenges
    • Lack of motivation
    • Lack of preparation
  • Wish list:
    • Making sure students are aware of spatial scales and the ability to think fractally
    • How to draw conclusions with data gaps
    • Writing, scientific communication and other
    • Teaching field skills in a way that seems relevant
  • How do you come up with projects that are doable for undergraduates to encourage and motivate them
  • Repository of digitized maps for teaching that are organized by concept.

Fitting structural geology and tectonics into the curriculum

  • Lots of challenges:
    • Existential crisis among people who teach SG: how do make what we teach relevant, what do we cover, how do we reach students and get them to apply the content to their everyday lives
    • Does tectonics belong in a structural geology class? 
    • Where does structural geology fit? Early, late, etc. 
  • Successes
    • Starting with spatial thinking and 3D thinking throughout curriculum so students were more prepared when they entered SG
  • Challenges
    • Incoming skills: students who come in with only intro or coming from different backgrounds and course sequences 
    • Fostering skill development in SG

Teaching in the real and virtual field

  • Research questions: 
    • How best to connect digital to virtual field experiences?
    • Can virtual field experiences be connected to research?
  • Succeses
    • Hybrid approach to field work is effective
    • Hypothesis-based field work is more successful than just mapping
  • Challenges
    • Being able to find and access god virtual activities
    • Understanding how students interact with virtual vs real experiences
    • Some students are intimidated by physical aspects of field
    • Students are less interested in field, how do we motivate
    • Accommodating students with invisible disabilities: as an instructor, how can you disclose your own and build confidence in students to share their
    • LOGISTICS
    • Liability: it's becoming more difficult to get insurance and overall liability
    • How to teach in a lab but using real materials
    • Access and permission to land
    • How to teach when access to real rocks is limited
  • Desired resources: 
    • Gear bank for field trips
    • Support for hosting online virtual activities
    • Time and funding to come up with activities
    •  

Teaching computer-based applications and skills

  • Lots of challenges:
    • Students are coming in with different skills sets in computer literacy and programming skills
    • Balancing time teaching new applications like ArcGIS vs. disciplinary concepts
    • How do you incorporate digital mapping and GIS
    • Students are challenged by things like file structure and the cloud
  • Resources
    • Still using a Brunton? 
    • Software and hardware for students
    • Field camp gear, including phone and iPads if using technology in the field
    • No curriculum or starting point for computer skills
    • Lack of bandwidth to teach both computer skills and disciplinary skills

Other

  • Success: Creative and effective teaching
    • Using a flipped classroom and ungrading
  • Recruiting, retaining and mentoring diverse students
  • Habits of mind
  • Tectonics is in the middle of a lot - how do we integrate those concepts/skills in our teaching