David McConnell

Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources part of Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources
This module enables students to identify the freshwater components of the hydrologic cycle and connect them to the basic need of all human beings for equal access to clean freshwater. This is accomplished by ...

Living on the Edge: Building resilient societies on active plate margins part of Living on the Edge
This module, intended to take two weeks in an introductory-level class, is divided into three units that focus on geologic hazards and associated risks at representative plate boundary settings: transform, ...

A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources through Local Decision Making part of A Growing Concern
Educating undergraduates about soil sustainability is central to our agricultural future. Soil erosion outpaces soil production and soil management is key. This teaching module provides undergraduates with ...

Human's Dependence on Earth's Mineral Resources part of Humans Dependence on Earths Mineral Resources
Despite humans' heavy reliance on Earth's mineral resources, few think about where the products they use come from and what it took to produce them. This module addresses that disconnect by combining ...

Natural Hazards and Risks: Hurricanes part of Natural Hazards and Risks: Hurricanes
Making the difficult decision to evacuate before a hurricane makes landfall can save lives and property. This two week module explores how hurricanes connect the ocean-atmosphere-terrestrial systems and society. ...

Climate of Change part of Climate of Change
In this two to three week module, students explore short-term climate variability resulting from atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. The module promotes awareness of past and contemporary cultures and regions ...

Active Learning for the Under-resourced and Overwhelmed Instructor part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Teaching Demonstrations:Tuesday
Active learning provides peer-to-peer interaction as students participate in activities that include opportunities for reflection and/or assessment of learning. Regardless of your experience as an instructor, the ...

Conceptest: Ozone umbrella analogy part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests:Examples
Which statement is the best analogy? A. An umbrella is to rain as the stratosphere is to solar radiation. B. An umbrella is to rain as the stratosphere is to ultraviolet radiation. C. An umbrella is to rain as the ...

Conceptest: CFCs and ozone part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests:Examples
Analyze the following student descriptions of the relationship between CFCs and ozone. Which is the best? a. CFCs are manufactured gases that destroy the ozone layer and produce oxygen. b. Chlorine forms from the ...

Conceptest: Permeability and cone of depression part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests:Examples
Two wells (A and B) are drilled into rocks that have the same porosity, but the rocks around well A have a higher permeability than these around well B. Suppose both wells are pumped at the same rate. Which ...

Conceptest: Equator tilt part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests:Examples
What would happen to the average temperature at the equator during our summer if the tilt angle of Earth's axis increased to 27 degrees? A. Temperatures would increase B. Temperatures would decrease C. ...

Spatial Thinking Training Activities for Undergraduate Geology Students part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Share-a-thon:Tuesday
We have created a set of spatial thinking training activities as part of a newly developed 1-credit course (Visualizing Geology in 3D and 4D) for sophomore geology students. The course is structured around the ...

ConcepTests part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests
ConcepTests are conceptual multiple-choice questions that focus on one key concept of an instructor's learning goals for a lesson. When coupled with student interaction through peer instruction, ConcepTests represent a rapid method of formative assessment of student understanding.

Conceptest: Cooling rate of Igneous Rocks part of Teaching Methods:ConcepTests:Examples
What is the most likely cooling rate and composition of a light colored, small grained igneous rock? A. Cooled rapidly, low silica B. Cooled rapidly, high silica C. Cooled slowly, low silica D. Cooled slowly, high ...

Spatial Thinking in Undergraduate Geology Courses: Results from a Mixed Methods Study part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday Oral Session A
There has been a global emphasis in developing the STEM workforce over the last several decades. Spatial thinking ability is a strong predictor of success in STEM (Wai et al., 2009; Shea et al., 2001). Spatial ...

Using Course Observations to Characterize Spatial Thinking in Undergraduate Geology Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session B
Traditional undergraduate education often consists of passive delivery of course content without explicit focus on fostering the development of essential skills. However, in recent years, various STEM disciplines ...

How do students choose to assess themselves prior to exams? Investigating the effects of implementing a "dynamic" quizzing feature within a web-based assessment tool. part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session I
Students are often unaware of potential gaps in their knowledge while preparing for course exams until it is too late. As a result, we developed a web-based assessment tool called the Confidence-based Learning ...

How Do Effort and Judgments of Learning during Online Practice Quizzes Predict Exam Outcomes in an Introductory Physical Geology Course? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday A
The level of consonance between students' perceptions of their abilities and their actual ability to perform is often quite limited. The ability to accurately monitor the level of one's learning is an ...

Geoscience Videos and their Role in Supporting Student Learning part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
A series of geoscience videos were created to support student learning in Introductory Physical Geology classes at North Carolina State University. Videos are typically 5-7 minutes long and made using a stylus, ...

Do InTeGrate materials increase scientific understanding among women? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
InTeGrate geoscience teaching materials were developed to link societal challenges to geologic concepts in order to improve Earth literacy in undergraduate students. These curricular products span topics from ...

The impact of course-wide adoption of InTeGrate teaching materials on the instructional beliefs and practices of geoscience instructors part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday A
A primary goal of the InTeGrate project is to create student-centered teaching curricula that will improve the geoscience literacy of undergraduate students by teaching the geosciences in the context of societal ...

Reformed teaching in geoscience classrooms: How engaged are our students and what can we do to engage them more? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Oral Sessions:Wednesday B
A team of trained observers made direct observations of 204 unique geoscience classes across the US using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Observed classes were taught by faculty of diverse ...

Leveraging the relationship between student confidence and performance to promote achievement in introductory geoscience courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday A
Many students don't know how learning happens, nor what they have to do to make it happen. This awareness of how to learn falls under the purview of metacognition and in a process called self-regulation. ...

Communicating Geoscience Concepts In The Classroom And Beyond Using Short Videos part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Poster Sessions:Tuesday
We created a series of geoscience videos to support student learning in an introductory physical geology course. We incorporated aspects of effective multimedia design (e.g., brief videos featuring spatial and ...

What experiences influence the teaching beliefs of future geoscience professors? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Oral Sessions:Friday B
Today's graduate students and post-docs will become tomorrow's future professors. The pedagogical beliefs of instructors impact how they structure their courses and whether they choose to use ...

Using confidence judgements to identify characteristics of students' metacognitive awareness and achievement in introductory geoscience courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Oral Sessions:Wednesday A
Metacognition is one's ability to recognize the workings and characteristics of their own knowledge and thought processes. In conjunction with the sensory, short-term, and long-term memories, a student's ...

Geoscience Videos and Their Role in Supporting Student Learning in Hybrid Introductory Geoscience Courses part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
A series of geoscience videos were created to support student learning in Introductory Physical Geology classes at North Carolina State University. Specifically, we have created web-streamed videos with multiple ...

Characterizing the teaching beliefs of today's geoscience graduate students and tomorrow's professors part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
The next generation of professors will be drawn from today's graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. However, research into the pedagogical beliefs of geoscience graduate students and post-docs is ...

Impact of InTeGrate materials on teaching beliefs and practices part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
The NSF-funded InTeGrate project (http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/index.html) seeks to develop, test, and disseminate geoscience educational resources for a variety of courses and disciplines so that they can ...

Evaluating and revising the inquiry level of physical geology labs and assessing the impact on student academic performance. part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
The introductory physical geology labs taught at North Carolina State University were reformatted in 2009 to include more inquiry-based activities and utilize local geologic resources. After several years of ...

Strategies for incorporating InTeGrate materials in a large lecture physical geology course: Implications for early adopters. part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
The InTeGrate project is an interdisciplinary effort to promote geoscience literacy through the context of societal issues. The project seeks to accomplish this in introductory geoscience and environmental science ...

On the Cutting Edge: Demonstrating Impact on Teaching part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
Established in 2002 with funding from NSF, more than 1800 geoscience faculty, post-docs and graduate students have participated in On the Cutting Edge (CE) professional development workshops. The CE website, ...

David McConnell Makes a Video part of Videos:Videos Workshop 2014:Contributed Videos
This is a short how-to video meant to help people start making instructional videos of their own.

A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Short Videos for Geoscience Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Afternoon Mini-Workshops
A few years ago, we began creating short instructional videos for an introductory geoscience course. While we had little prior experience in making videos, previous research provided us with some principles for ...

Adapting Active Learning Strategies in Your Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Morning Workshops:Adapting Active Learning Strategies in Your Courses
Research in STEM disciplines has revealed that empirically validated instructional practices that can contribute to improvements in student learning and a reduction in attrition. We will outline a series of ...

Developing (or Modifying) an Introductory Geoscience Course Using InTeGrate Modules part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Morning Workshops:Developing (or Modifying) an Intro Geoscience Course Using InTeGrate Modules
Research in STEM disciplines has revealed a suite of empirically validated instructional practices that can contribute to improvements in student learning and a reduction in attrition. This workshop will introduce ...

Town Hall part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program
The town hall will allow us to collectively reflect on the lessons we learned as a community at the Rendezvous, and to address any opportunities we see for collective action or impact. Don't forget to tell us ...

Online Teaching part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Panel Discussions
Summary Online resources make up a steadily increasing share of the materials used to support student learning in geoscience courses. No longer do online resources represent copies of class notes and links to a ...

What Makes a Good Teaching Video? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Panel Discussions
Summary Video is increasingly being used as an educational tool in college science courses. Even if we are not assigning videos, students are independently looking to places like YouTube to supplement their ...

Getting Started in GER: Designing an Effective Geoscience Education Research Protocol part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Morning Workshops:Designing GER Protocol
This workshop will discuss the components of some common types of both qualitative and quantitative geoscience education research. We will discuss potential collaborations among participants who are interested in ...

Introducing Active Learning Strategies to Large Intro Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Morning Workshops:Active Learning
Research in STEM disciplines has revealed a suite of empirically validated instructional practices that can contribute to improvements in student learning and a reduction in attrition. We will outline a series of ...

Making the Most of your Intro Course part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Workshops:Intro Courses
Intro courses are one of the most important courses in any program as they serve as the beginning and end of many students introduction to a discipline, topic or way of thinking. This session allows you to work ...