Initial Publication Date: June 14, 2006
Research on learning has many important lessons that can improve teaching in the geosciences. This site brings together resources for faculty, teachers and curriculum developers working in the geosciences including
- Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences
This project synthesizes existing knowledge and explores unanswered questions in Geological Time, Complex Systems of the Earth, Spatial Thinking in Geosciences and Field-base Learning resulting in Earth and Mind II: A Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences (2012) and How Geoscientists Think and Learn (EOS. 2009) - Essays about research on learning in the geosciences drawn from the 2002 NSF/Johnson Foundation Workshop: Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences.
- Presentations from the GSA Pardee symposium Toward a Better Understanding of the Complicated Earth : Insights from Geologic Research, Education, and Cognitive Science.
- Recommended readings providing an entry point for learning about research on learning and its use in the geosciences.
- Bibliography of papers and books related to research on learning in the geosciences.
- Recommendations for research, dissemination and professional development to enhance research on learning in the geosciences (Final Report (Acrobat (PDF) 879kB Mar9 04) NSF/Johnson Foundation Workshop: Bringing Research on learning to the Geosciences.
- Cognition: A Key Factor in Interpretation and Visualization?: links to abstracts and some of the posters from a session at the 2012 annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
- Spatial Skills in the Geosciences: presentations from a session at the 2009 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
- Graduate Programs in Geocognition and Geoscience Education Research (Michigan State University)
- Researchers' websites with information about their research on learning and teaching in the geosciences.
Related Resources
- Earth and Mind: the Blog - This blog has been created with the goal of stirring up discussion of ideas, questions, discoveries and controversies related to how people think and learn about the Earth and environment. The blog is brought to you by the same researchers behind the Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences project.
- Earth and Mind: How Geologists Think and Learn about the Earth
Edited by Cathryn Manduca and David Mogk, this volume brings together essays by geoscientists, cognitive scientists, and educators that explore how expert geoscientists learn about the Earth and the implications for student learning. - Earth and Mind II: A Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences
This volume explores the distinctive ways in which geoscientists use the human senses and mind to perceive, analyze, and explain the workings of the Earth system, and then builds on those insights to suggest how to help students master the thought processes of the geosciences. The book is arranged into four main sections, Time, Space, Systems, and Field, each including three sub-sections: an introduction by the editors, a thematic paper by experts in the each particular area, and several commentaries on the theme.