The Case for a Cooperative Studio Classroom: Teaching Petrology in a Different Way
Dexter Perkins January 2005 Journal of Geoscience Education v53 n1 p101

This article from the Journal of Geoscience Education discusses a Petrology course that was reformatted from a lab-lecture format to one that emphasizes studio and cooperative learning. The new course requires that students take more responsibility for their learning with the instructor acting as a mentor. Formal lectures and labs are replaced with group projects that study complex problems in depth. The content covered in the semester is less than in a more traditional class but the learning is greater. The goals of the changes are to improve student learning by covering fewer topics in greater depth, to deemphasize knowledge-based learning and emphasize development of higher order thinking skills, and to help students develop good habits and fundamental skills useful for lifelong learning.


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Subject: Biology:Evolution, Education
Resource Type: Pedagogic Resources:Overview/Summary, Course Information, Pedagogic Resources:Research Results, Opinion, Journal Article