Katherine Ryker

Implementing the Geoscience Education Research Project as a Poster in Intro Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Share-a-Thon:Share-a-Thon Presentations
Students complete a scientific research project including asking a question, developing methods, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating results as described by Karen M. Kortz here: ...

The Pangea Puzzle part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Teaching Demonstrations:Friday B
Students learn how to use the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) to produce maps of fossils on the present day Earth's surface, as well as past continental configurations. They do this by mapping the occurrence of ...

Incorporating Analogical Reasoning into Earth Science: A Content-Agnostic Lesson Plan part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Share-a-thon:Tuesday
This 90 minute lesson plan is written to engage students with analogical reasoning that can be used at any point in the curriculum regardless of content. Students are provided with a basic introduction to analogies ...

Building Community and Comprehension with Collaborative Reading and Homework Assignments part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Teaching Demonstrations
We used a combination of an OER textbook (https://opengeology.org/textbook/), a collaborative e-reading program (https://perusall.com/), and weekly homework assignments (Learning Journals) that students could work ...

Communicating Beyond Visuals: Materials to Support Blind and Visually-Impaired Students in an Introductory Geology Course part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Share-a-Thon
An introductory geology course can be daunting to students even with full use of their eyes, but students who are blind or visually-impaired experience a new world of challenges. Common, visual-based tasks include ...

Using the Paleobiology Database to explore tectonic events part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Teaching Demonstrations:Friday B
In this teaching demonstration, we will model a student activity we developed utilizing the Paleobiology Database's (PBDB's) user-friendly "Navigator" interface. The activity has students to ...

The effect of Spatial Anxiety on training spatial reasoning part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday Poster Session
Spatial reasoning skills are an important component of student development in geoscience. While ability levels vary between individuals, these skills are trainable. Recently, Spatial Anxiety has been recognized as ...

Increasing geoscience enrollment and engagement by transforming perceptions of geoscience- Insights from outreach on YouTube and surveys part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday Oral Session A
Enrollment in geoscience departments is currently decreasing, which is projected to cause a major shortage of geoscientists in the workforce over the next decade. It is crucial that we reverse this trend as ...

Lessons from the Field: Best Practices for Collecting and Analyzing Longitudinal Data from Human Subjects part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday Poster Session
Conducting education research involving students requires thoughtful prior planning and meticulous attention to detail. From the conception of the research question, to IRB approval, to data cleaning and analysis, ...

Students Ability to Relate to Scientists: Impacts of Geoscientist Spotlights part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Poster Sessions:Monday Poster Session
Geosciences struggle with a significant diversity problem and have the lowest participation rates of historically marginalized individuals in science and engineering occupations (URGE, 2022; AGI, 2020). Majors ...

Anyone Can Be An Geoscientist: The Impact of Diverse Representation From Draw-an-Earth-Scientist Tests (DAEST) part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Poster Sessions:Monday Poster Session
The geosciences have the lowest participation rates of historically marginalized individuals in science positions, and are a field where people who "discover" the major often mostly see historical ...

Engaging students in the scientific process: A case study of inquiry within five introductory geology courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session A
Introductory geology courses provide crucial opportunities to learn how to apply scientific information and practices, and help recruit students to the major. As such, high quality instruction is important, ...

Assessing students' perceived skill acquisition and growth in a face-to-face geology field camp part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session A
Geology field camp (field camp) is a required part of the undergraduate curriculum at many geology programs in the United States. Field camp is generally a capstone course for juniors and seniors where students ...

The Influence of Geoscientist Spotlights on the Perceived Identities of Scientists part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday Poster Session
Majors frequently "discover" the geosciences through introductory courses, yet the scientists featured there often reflects historical stereotypes of scientists (e.g. white, straight, cisgender male). ...

Understanding the complex teaching-related characteristics of graduate teaching assistants to provide a personalized teaching assistant orientation part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session A
Universities often require incoming graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) participate in a Teaching Assistant Orientation (TAO), though the scope and content vary. TAO at the University of South Carolina, provided ...

Do students learn science best with hands-on activities in introductory geology labs? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday Poster Session
Laboratory activities provide opportunities to engage undergraduates in the "hands-on" portion of introductory courses. We conducted a study in which 11 teaching assistants (TAs) were asked a series of ...

Characteristics of student interest in online introductory geology labs part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday Oral Session A
Inquiry-based lab activities offer students opportunities to engage in authentic geoscience learning experiences in which they also interact with their instructors and peers. We hosted a 2020 EER workshop in which ...

Results of the 2021/2022 GER Needs Assessment Survey: A Snapshot of the Community part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2022:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday Poster Session
The geoscience education research (GER) community began to coalesce as its own independent field in the 2000s, after significant groundwork done by "border crossers" in prior decades (NRC, 2012). By 2014, ...

Revising the Teacher Beliefs Interview for Post-Secondary Instructors part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Friday:Poster Session III
Teaching beliefs represent a set of understandings that influence what instruction looks like in practice. They are difficult to elicit and individuals may have limited vocabulary to explain why they teach the way ...

How are minerals and rocks taught in introductory college geology labs? An evaluation of levels of utility and inquiry, with suggestions for improvement aligned with primary literature. part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday:Poster Session I
Rock and mineral laboratory activities are an integral component of introductory geoscience courses, providing critical opportunities for students to apply what they learn in lecture. Despite the evidence that ...

Changes in TA Beliefs from Teaching Inquiry-Based Activities in Introductory Geology Labs part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday:Poster Session I
Inquiry laboratory activities provide opportunities to engage undergraduates in introductory geoscience courses. Often, labs are considered the "hands-on" portion of introductory courses, but activities ...

Making Sense of Interest and Learning in Introductory Geology Courses: Teaching Assistant and Student Perspectives part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session V
How undergraduate students experience our introductory geoscience labs can have a profound effect on how much they learn and retain about our discipline, and how interested they are in learning more about it in ...

Characterizing the concerns of new graduate teaching assistants at a large, research-focused university part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session VI
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) often receive little training in pedagogy before leading undergraduate courses and labs at large, research-focused universities. Though most universities offer some ...

The effects of training spatial skills on student success, efficacy and value in introductory geology students part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session V
Spatial skills, which represent the ability to mentally manipulate objects, are critical to entrance, persistence and success in STEM fields and the geosciences in particular. While we have a sense of which ...

The Role of Virtual Reality in Science Education: A Literature Review part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session I
Earth is a complex web of interconnected systems and feedback loops, including both the natural and anthropogenic spheres that govern our planet. Relating these systems, a process called earth systems thinking, ...

Evidence for Reformed Teaching in Undergraduate Geoscience Course Syllabi part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Oral Sessions:Oral Session III
A syllabus introduces students to information about a course, is one of the first ways students and instructors interact, and sets the tone of the course. We reviewed course syllabi of instructors who we observed ...

So what does a degree in geology actually mean? A review of commonly required courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Poster Sessions:Posters
Unlike other fields such as chemistry (ACS, 2019), engineering, physics (ABET, 2019) and biology (ASBMB, 2019), the geosciences have no greater accrediting body. In terms of the classes that are required, there is ...

Analysis of Critical Features of Informal Science Learning Environments in Michigan part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
Museums and other informal science learning environments (ISLEs), like planetariums, have been helping teach the public science for generations, and many provide outreach programs specifically for K-12 audiences. ...

An Elicitation Study of Introductory Geoscience Student Beliefs About Continuing in the Discipline part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday A
Introductory classes play a critical role for the geosciences, serving as a way to train future citizen scientists and recruit majors who may have previously not seriously considered a geoscience major. Students ...

The Role of Virtual Reality in Developing Spatial Visualization Skills in Geoscience Students part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
Geoscience and its many subfields require students to utilize an immense amount of spatial visualization skills to identify and solve various problems and patterns within the field. Spatial visualization is the ...

The Use of Augmented Reality in Informal Learning Environments part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
Augmented Reality (AR) has seen a rise in popularity over the last several decades as the technologies required to develop AR-based tools have become more widespread and user-friendly (Billinghurst et al., 2015; ...

Quantifying the Effects of Discipline-Based Professional Development Programs on Undergraduate Geoscience Teaching part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Oral Sessions:Thursday A
We investigated the impact of geoscience-specific professional development (PD) on undergraduate teaching by comparing instructor PD histories and classroom practices. Trained observers used the Reformed Teaching ...

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 ...

Utilizing the Paleobiology Database to Provide Hands-On Research Opportunities for Undergraduates part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Poster Sessions:Thursday
Numerous studies indicate that student participation in undergraduate research experiences can result in increased recruitment and retention of science majors. Many undergraduate students' only exposure to ...

Incorporating an Augmented Reality Sandbox in an Online Geology Course part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Oral Sessions:Wednesday B
Learning in the geosciences requires students to use spatial thinking, including tasks such as making and interpreting geologic and topographic maps (Kastens and Ishikawa, 2006). The ability to think critically ...

A Longitudinal Study of Science Teaching Efficacy and Math Anxiety in Pre-Service Teachers part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday A
Negative attitudes of elementary teachers towards science and math have been well documented for several decades, a combination which impacts how science content is taught (Bleicher, 2001; Joseph, 2010), and ...

Changing the Science Teaching Beliefs of Pre-service Teachers part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Abstracts
The science teaching beliefs of pre-service teachers play a profound role in impacting the way in which science content is taught (Bleicher, 2010; Joseph 2010). In this study, we examine the way in which ...

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 ...

Friday Session B part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Teaching Demonstrations:Friday B
Conference session webpage detailing a 2017 Earth Educators Rendezvous teaching demonstration track featuring hands-on geoscience education activities on paleobiology, limestone formation, glacial processes, logarithmic scales, and EDS/SEM spectral analysis, emphasizing quantitative literacy and student engagement.

Teaching Critical Minerals and Designing Lessons for Student-Centered Instruction part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2026:Program:Afternoon Workshops
This workshop will integrate new (to many) content and instructional practices. We will share a newly designed lesson on critical minerals (CM; Aird et al., to be uploaded to TTE in fall 2025) that has been ...

GER at EER: What Should Future Programming Look Like? part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Round Table Discussions
The Earth Educators' Rendezvous (EER) offers many important opportunities for geoscience educators to gather - including participating in and offering one another professional development in geoscience ...

Increasing Representation of Diverse Geoscientists with Geoscientist Spotlights in Introductory Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Afternoon Mini-Workshops
Geoscientist Spotlights, modeled off of Scientist Spotlights, offer an opportunity for more students to see themselves as geoscientists. These short, reflective writing assignments can be used across a wide range ...

University systems in the time of punctuated equilibrium: Understanding adaptations to rapid and unpredictable change part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network:Conferences and Events:Conferences and Meetings:Transforming Institutions Conference 2021:Program:Presentations:Session IX
The COVID-19 global pandemic presented unanticipated challenges for undergraduate education. Early in the pandemic, many institutions of higher education were left scrambling as they tried to maintain academic ...

Community-Driven Field Geology Online part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2021:Program:Roundtable Discussions
Geology programs across the country use field camps as capstone experiences in which majors apply what they have learned throughout their degree in a field setting, often for 5-6 weeks at a time. The COVID-19 ...

Getting Started in SoTL part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Afternoon Workshops
What are the best parts of your course? How do you know? This session is for those who want to systematically investigate their teaching, applying the same scholarly habits we use in the lab and field to make our ...

Spicing Up Your Assessments: Moving beyond exams part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Afternoon Mini-Workshops
Are you completely satisfied with your formative and summative assessments? If so, this workshop is not for you. This workshop will focus on how to develop and implement performance-based assessments in your ...

Supporting TA Success in your Classes part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Roundtable Discussions
A 2016 survey of geoscience faculty across US institutions revealed that GTAs serve in a wide variety of instructional roles and perform a myriad of important tasks such as leading labs, grading papers, and holding ...

Strengthening TA Teaching Capacity part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2017:Program:Roundtable Discussions
Teaching Assistants (TAs) play a major role in undergraduate instruction, and their teaching practices and beliefs influence student learning. Nonetheless, TAs often begin their positions with little to no teaching ...

Virtual Brownbags to Expand a Community of Practice part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Morning Workshops:GER:Idea Papers
This webpage is an idea paper from the 2016 Earth Educators' Rendezvous proposing virtual brownbag discussions to strengthen the geoscience education research (GER) community, specifically advocating for monthly online forums to foster inter-institutional collaborations, support early career researchers, and sustain professional engagement through shared research interests and expertise.

The Role of the GER Division in Promoting a Community of Practice part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Morning Workshops:GER:Idea Papers
This webpage is an academic idea paper from the 2016 Earth Educators' Rendezvous discussing the Geoscience Education Research (GER) division's role in fostering a community of practice, detailing initiatives like networking forums, professional development workshops, tenure support, and inclusive research advocacy to advance GER scholarship.

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 ...

How to Increase the Level of Inquiry in your Lab Activities part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Afternoon Mini Workshops
Inquiry: easy to say we use in teaching, harder to prove! Inquiry learning parallels the process of scientific inquiry, and focuses on the students' role in asking and investigating scientific questions. ...

Developing Collaborative Operations Manuals for Research Groups part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2024:Program:Morning Workshops:Developing Collaborative Operations Manuals for Research Groups
Transparent expectations for being involved in a research group benefit trainees and PIs alike and help to elucidate the "hidden curriculum" of research. However, what do these expectations look like, and ...

Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Morning Workshops:Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience
In this workshop, we will help graduate students build their skills as teaching assistants (TAs) and articulate those skills in light of future careers. Participants will develop skills and confidence for ...

Creating Inquiry-Based Labs for Introductory Geology Courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Morning Workshops:Creating Inquiry-Based Labs for Introductory Geology Courses
Inquiry based laboratory activities in undergraduate introductory geoscience courses are important opportunities to engage students in face-to-face and online environments. Often, laboratory activities are ...

Measuring and Increasing the Level of Inquiry in Science Laboratory Activities part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Morning Workshops:Measuring and Increasing the Level of Inquiry in Science Laboratory Activities
Commercially available lab manuals for introductory science courses are often devoid of authentic inquiry opportunities for learners (Buck et al., 2008). Inquiry-based activities have been empirically-shown to ...

Research on Cognitive Domain in Geoscience Learning: Temporal and Spatial Reasoning part of NAGT:Our Work:Geoscience Education Research:Community Framework for GER:Cognitive - Spatial and Temporal Reasoning
Download a pdf of this chapterKatherine Ryker, University of South Carolina and Allison J. Jaeger, Temple University. With contributions from: Scott Brande, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Mariana Guereque, ...

Teacher Preparation, Professional Development and Policy Issues part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Oral Sessions:Monday A

Geoscience Education Research II part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Oral Sessions
See Related Poster Session

Geoscience Education Research part of Rendezvous 2015:Program:Poster Sessions
Related Monday Oral Session with discussion @ 4:00pm Related Tuesday Oral Session with discussion @ 4:00pm