Summary

Meetings like the Rendezvous can provide lots of inspiration to instructors to make changes in their teaching. However, back home, after the excitement of the meeting has faded, there are many challenges to making substantive changes to teaching practice. We will hear from two instructors who have gone through this process of reform and who will describe what worked, what didn't, and how they adapted resources to best fit their teaching environment. We will also learn what types of teaching practices our colleagues are using as observed in more than 200 geoscience classes and what this might mean for those who are interested in teaching reform. If you are thinking about adopting some of the ideas and resources you have learned about at the meeting, this is the panel for you.

Chris Berg

I will discuss and reflect on my recent experience reforming a large-lecture introductory geology course to incorporate InTeGrate modules as a replacement for traditional lectures and the impacts of this reform on course design and delivery. Attendees will learn about some of the successes (what worked), challenges (what didn't work), and strategies for adaptation (how do I make these materials work better for my needs).

---

Cody Kirkpatrick

Improvements to an Introductory Severe Weather Course: Using backward-design thinking, I will share strategies and examples of how I have transformed class time in our introductory, general education severe weather course by replacing lectures with active learning activities. These activities allow students to "experience science as science is practiced" – collaborative, interactive, and to learn by analyzing data about current and recent events.

---

Karen Viskupic

The On the Cutting Edge Classroom Observation Project observed more than 200 undergraduate geoscience classrooms using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Analysis of data from this project identified common teaching practices used by geoscience instructors in classes with varying degrees of reform. I'll introduce these common practices and identify a few key strategies (that aren't difficult to implement!) you could use to reform your teaching.