Artificial Outcrops Give Real Experience in Interpreting a Geologic History: The CMUland Group Project for Historical Geology Courses part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Kathleen C. Benison
A basic goal of historical geology courses is for students to gain an understanding of the methods, theories, and logic used in interpreting geologic histories. This is traditionally taught as a ...

Science Policy part of SERC Print Resource Collection
R. A. Jr. Pielke
Science policy involves consideration of two fundamental human activities: science and policy. People make decisions of valued outcomes, so thinking about science policy necessarily implicates ...

Philosophy in the Field part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Robert Frodeman
Understanding of geologic time extends one's human-scaled sense of time. One's sense of time determines the type and manner of things we think are real and important. If we see ourselves as ...

College student conceptions of geological time and the disconnect between ordering and scale part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Julie C. Libarkin, Josepha P. Kurdziel, Steven W. Anderson
College student conceptions of the scale of geologic time and the relationships between time and geological or biological events were evaluated through interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and ...

Spatial Ability and Earth Science Conceptual Understanding part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Alice A. (Jill) Black
Relatively little research has considered the relationship of spatial abilities with common misconceptions and broader conceptual difficulties in the Earth sciences. This article from the Journal of ...

Students, fieldwork, space and time part of SERC Print Resource Collection
C. King
This paper suggests how to get students to build up an overall perspective of the different rock sequences they see during a field excursion. It outlines a five-prong approach aimed at understanding ...

Activities for Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science part of SERC Print Resource Collection
National Academy Press
This is a chapter from the National Academy of Sciences book "Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science" (1998). This chapter presents eight activities that ...

Students' Beliefs About the Role of Atoms in Radioactive Decay and Half-life part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Edward Prather
This article from the Journal of Geoscience Education addresses the common difficulties that students experience when trying to learn about radiation and radioactivity. By identifying inaccurate ...

The Effects of Different learning Tasks on Model-building in Plate Tectonics: Diagramming Versus Explaining part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Janice D. Gobert
Based on previous work in students' conceptions in geology, this article from the Journal of Geoscience Education features three studies of students' conceptions and cognition in plate ...

The Effect of an Earth-Science Learning Program on Students' Scientific Thinking Skills part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Nir Orion, Yael Kali
This study published in the Journal of Geoscience Education explores junior high school students' understanding of the essential concepts involved in scientific thinking: observation, hypothesis ...