Hi Kim, Thanks for alerting us to the special focus on geoscience thinking that will be featured at the forthcoming GSA meeting. I think it's really important for a discipline to periodically be reflective and introspective about who we are, what our priorities are, what contributions can be made. In preparation for the Earth and Mind volume, I read with fascintation the text you cite, Fabric of Geology. It has contributions from some of the legendary figures of 20th Century geology: J. Hoover Mackin, V. McKelvey, Luna Leopold, Jim Gilluly.... and these essays provide many interesting insights into how geoscience has been pursued by the masters of geoscience in the last century. This is also what Cathy Manduca and I hoped to achieve in the invited essays in Earth and Mind (GSA Special Paper 413). The first section addresses Learning From Earth with contributions from Gary Ernst, Sue Kieffer, Don Anderson and Don Turcotte that reveal their thought processes as they have studied Earth through lifetimes of achievement; the second section provides commentary from the learning sciences about Learning About Geoscience Thinking with contributions from Kim Kastens and Toru Ishicawa, Jeff Dodick and Nir Orion, Bruce Herbert, JHeff Dodick and Shlomo Argamon, and David Rapp and David Uttal; the third section provides insights about Helping Students Learn with essays from Danny Edelson et al., Michael Tabor and Kristin Quadracci, Steve Reynbolds et al., and Dave Bice. In this volume, we hoped to open a geoscience-wide exploration of what master geoscientists think and do in pursuit of their craft; how these questions and approaches to studying Earth can be understood in terms of learning and cognitive theory; and how these insights can be translated into effective instructional practice.
It seems to me that the GSA initiative to reflect on "our science, our societal impact, and our [unique] thought processes is time well spent by GSA members and indeed all geoscientists.
[I agree with Kim that geoscience thought processes may not be unique (we share similar opportunties and challenges with astronomy, physiology, ecology in having to work in complex, open and dynamic systems), but we surely have perspectives that complement and supplement Science as done in other disciplines.]
It seems to me that the GSA initiative to reflect on "our science, our societal impact, and our [unique] thought processes is time well spent by GSA members and indeed all geoscientists.
[I agree with Kim that geoscience thought processes may not be unique (we share similar opportunties and challenges with astronomy, physiology, ecology in having to work in complex, open and dynamic systems), but we surely have perspectives that complement and supplement Science as done in other disciplines.]
3959:13494