Initial Publication Date: November 2, 2012

Selected Literature on Geoscientific Thinking

The following list of selected references consists of articles and books that address the issue of understanding the nature of geoscience methods and how they differ from the methods of experimental sciences. These references address issues surrounding teaching students how to think like a geologist which is fundamentally different than thinking in other sciences. For a more complete, searchable list, see the references page.

Geoscience Habits of Mind

Geoscience and Geoscientists: Uniquely equipped to study the Earth
by Manduca, C. A., and Kastens, K. A., in Special Paper 486, Geological Society of America, p. 1-12, 2012

The Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses
by Chamberlin, T. C., Science, 1890

How Geoscientists Think and Learn
by Kastens, K., Manduca, C., Cervato, C., Frodeman, R., Goodwin, C., Liben, L., Mogk, D., Spangler, T., Stillings, N., and Titus, S., Eos Trans. AGU, v. 90, p. 31, 2009

Methods of Geoscience

Understanding Scientific Methodology in the Historical and Experimental Sciences via Language Analysis
by Dodick, J., Argamon, S., and Chase, P., Science & Education, v. 18, no. 8, p. 985-1004, 2009

Tracking the Footprints Puzzle: The problematic persistence of science-as-process in teaching the nature and culture of science
by Ault, C. R., and Dodick, J., Science Education, v. 94, no. 6, p. 1092-1122, 2010

Geology as an Historical Science: Its Perception within Science and the Education System
by Dodick, J., and Orion, N., Science & Education, v. 12, no. 2, p. 197-211, 2003

Nature of Geoscience

Geo-logic: Breaking ground between philosophy and the Earth sciences
by Frodeman, R., Albany, State Univ of New York Press, 184 p., 2003

Geological reasoning; geology as an interpretive and historical science
by Frodeman, R., Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 107, no. 8, p. 960-968, 1995

Methodological and Epistemic Differences between Historical Science and Experimental Science
by Cleland, C.E., Philosophy of Science, v. 69, no. 3, p. 447-451, 2002

Historical science, experimental science, and the scientific method
by Cleland, C. E., Geology, v. 29, no. 11, p. 987-990, 2001

Geosemiosis
by Baker, V. R., Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 111, no. 5, p. 633-645, 1999

What is it like to be a geologist? A phenomenology of geology and its epistemological implications
by Raab, T., and Frodeman, R., Philosophy & Geography, v. 5, no. 1, p. 69-81, 2002

Teaching Geoscientific Thinking

A Model for the Development and Implementation of Field Trips as an Integral Part of the Science Curriculum
by Orion, N., School Science and Mathematics, v. 93, no. 6, p. 325-331, 1993

Multiple Modes of Inquiry in Earth Science
by Kastens, K. A., and Rivet, A.,The Science Teacher, v. 75, no. 1, p. 26-31, 2008

A Model of Inquiry for Teaching Earth Science
by Pyle, E. J., Electronic Journal of Science Education, v. 12, no. 2, 2008

Developing and Applying the Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Needed for Effective Earth Science Teaching
by Pyle, E. J., and Brunkhorst, B., In A. Collins and N. Gillespie (Eds.) The continuum of secondary science teacher preparation, Sense Publishers, Boston, 2009

Criteria of Excellence for Geological Inquiry: The Necessity of Ambiguity
by Ault, C. R.,Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v. 35, no. 2, p. 189-212, 1998

The [Geo]Scientific Method; hypothesis testing and geoscience proposal writing for students (more info)
by Markley,Michelle J., Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 58, no. 4, p. 198-202, 2010

Research on Learning in the Geosciences

Each of the following resources is GSA Special Paper that includes several papers. Follow the link to the resource and the related website to see the table of contents.

Earth and mind: how geologists think and learn about the earth
by Manduca, C. A., and Mogk, D. W., Special Paper, Volume 413: Boulder, CO, Geological Society of America, p. 188, 2006

Earth and Mind II: A Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences
by Manduca, C. A., and Kastens, K. A.,Special Paper, Volume 486: Boulder, CO, Geological Society of America, p. 210, 2012