Instructor Stories and Adaptations

These resources describe how the module was adapted for use in different settings. We hope these stories inspire your own use of the module and give you insight into how to adapt the materials for your classroom.

Prajukti (juk) Bhattacharyya: Environmental Geology at the University of Wisconsin--Whitewater. The module was adapted to be used in this environmental course for both majors and introductory students at a public undergraduate university. The instructor took advantage of how easy it is to teach the units out of order, even teaching some parts of the unit separately from the module to better work with other course topics

Joy Branlund: Introduction to Earth Science at Southwestern Illinois College. The module replaces the typical rocks and mineral section of this community college course. The module activities worked well in the active-learning classroom, and the instructor appreciated how the interwoven concept maps strengthened students' cognitive skills.

Leah Joseph and Sally Willig: Geology: The Earth Around Us at Ursinus College. The module was used near the beginning of the semester to partially replace and enhance the rocks and minerals portion of the course using both class and lab time. The human element of the module was a good fit for the mostly non-science-major audience at this private liberal arts college.

Modifications on this activity from the community...

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Contributed by Alice Baldridge, Saint Marys College of California

I used the first module integrated into my first week intro materials and then taught the bulk of the class as a mineralogy/petrology course. After discussing igneous and metamorphic minerals and rocks, we did activities from the Mineral Resources and Mining Impacts modules and then ended the semester with the Mineral Resources created by Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks module and discussed society and impacts the last day of class. We also had the opportunity to visit and tour a gold mine that is getting ready to reopen in the next year and see some of the processes directly. This was done the week of Thanksgiving so tied in very nicely with the last few activities.

My department is an environmental science program and so I struggle in some classes to make the upper division geology courses relevant to their interests. These modules were a really nice way to relate earth materials content to environmental issues and helped the students engage in the course.

Learn more about using InTeGrate modules and courses

Additional Instructor Stories

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Mark Abolins: Geol 1030 Introduction to Earth Science/Geol 1031 Introduction to Earth Science Lab at Middle Tennessee State University
Mark Abolins, Middle Tennessee State University
My course is introductory general studies Earth Science, taught in a flipped instruction format with a large amount of active learning during the "lecture" period. Transition from "traditional lecture" to "flipped instruction" happened during 2013-2014 through involvement in the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) course redesign work group and the Tennessee Board of Regents Course Revitalization Initiative. Students use Pearson's "MasteringGeology" to complete pre-class assignments consisting of both publisher and original content, and they participate in active learning during the "lecture" period. A course response system (clicker remote and app system) is used to assess in-class learning and attendance.

Tiffany Rivera: National Parks Geology at Westminster College (UT)
Tiffany Rivera, University of Missouri-Columbia
Designed for students of all majors, National Parks Geology introduces fundamental geologic concepts through the lens of America's National Parks. My courses have gradually migrated from traditional lecture-based sessions, to integrated lecture and active learning periods. By immersing students in InTeGrate materials, they became more engaged with the content and enjoyed coming to class. The use of three different InTeGrate modules throughout the semester provided students with a variety of activities to challenge them with concepts, quantitative analysis, map reading and creating, and societal issues that affect the National Parks.

Christopher Berg: GEOL 1121 (Physical Geology) at the University of West Georgia
Christopher Berg, Orange Coast College
My course is a 16-week introductory geology lecture course that is taught in a traditional setting. I replaced half of my traditional lecture content with InteGrate modules and units. I found that by incorporating the student materials into a course packet, integrating readings and assignments into my online CMS, and using in-class polling techniques, I could successfully adapt most of the activities to my large-lecture classroom setting. Students gained an appreciation for the natural resources our society depends upon that they previously took for granted, and the challenges related to preparing for and mitigating natural hazard threats and their wide-reaching impacts.

Elizabeth Nagy: Using portions of four InTeGrate modules in Physical Geology at Pasadena City College
Elizabeth Nagy, Pasadena City College
Replacing lab activities with materials from four InTeGrate modules in an introductory physical geology course at a two-year college I replaced about half of my previous laboratory activities in an introductory physical geology class with ten activities adapted from four Integrate Modules. The students seemed to enjoy the group work and moving around the room, something that I rarely did in previous semesters. I also enjoyed the diversity of teaching techniques.

Also Related to Humans' Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources

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