Teaching Structural Geology, Geophysics, and Tectonics in the 21st Century

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New NASA airborne radar images show the continuing deformation in Earth's surface resulting from the magnitude 7.2 temblor that rocked Mexico's state of Baja California and parts of the American Southwest on April 4, 2010, along with its thousands of subsequent aftershocks. The data reveal that some faults in the area to the west of Calexico, Calif., have continued to move at the surface, most likely in the many aftershocks that have occurred in this region. This fault motion is likely what is known as "triggered slip" on the faults, caused by stress changes in Earth's crust resulting from the large 7.2 quake rupture. Image credit: NASA/JPL/USGS/California Geological Survey/Google.

July 15-19, 2012; optional field trip July 15

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Applications: This workshop has already occurred.

What are the grand challenges, leading edge ideas, and frontiers in structural geology, geophysics, and tectonics? How can we teach these ideas effectively in undergraduate courses? What innovative strategies can we use to integrate structural geology, geophysics, and tectonics in the courses that we teach for majors? What role can GIS and GPS analysis play in teaching these disciplines? This workshop will be an exciting collaborative effort that will address these and related issues in order to help faculty teach undergraduate structural geology, geophysics and tectonics more effectively.

This workshop revisits topics of two previous successful "Teaching X" workshops, Teaching Structural Geology in the 21st Century (On the Cutting Edge, 2004) and Teaching Geophysics in the 21st Century (On the Cutting Edge, 2007), adding the element of tectonics and focusing on integration across the three disciplines. Participants will also help to build and review the online collection of teaching materials and resources in the three disciplines.

Conveners:

Barbara Tewksbury (Hamilton College)
Gregory Baker (University of Tennessee Knoxville)
William Dunne (University of Tennessee Knoxville)
Kip Hodges (Arizona State University)
Michael Wysession (Washington University)

Go to workshop overview.

Corner graphic is a Google Earth oblique view of the southern MacDonnell Ranges, Australia, looking SE from 24.27141S, 132.119593E. Imagery from Digital Globe.

This workshop is part of the On the Cutting Edge professional development program for current and future geoscience faculty, sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers with funding provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education .