Initial Publication Date: July 22, 2014

Sean Tvelia

Suffolk County Community College

Sean Tvelia is a SAGE 2YC local workshop leader and an Associate Professor of Physical Science at Suffolk County Community College. He co-convened the 2015 workshop Motivating and Improving Learning: Metacognition, Motivation, and the Affective Domain and the 2014 workshop Supporting Student Success in the Geosciences at 2-Year Colleges, both at Nassau County Community College.

Courses

Tvelia teaches Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Geologic Field Studies, Planetary Geology, and Introduction to Chemistry.

Professional Interests

Tvelia's educational interests focus on the development of hands-on geoscience activities and classroom technologies that immerse students in geology and allow them to experience and form examples first hand. This is a consequence and a reflection of the suburban location Suffolk Community College where most geology has been masked by strip malls and housing developments. As a result, students come to geoscience courses with little experience in the natural world. Tvelia also works to provide high-quality educational mentoring and provides extracurricular opportunities (designed for our majors but open to all) to network with peers and engage in research at local 4-yr universities.

Tvelia researches the relationship between glacial hydrology and glaciotectonic processes in the development of kettle chains on eastern Long Island.

Institution

Suffolk County Community College (also known as SUNY Suffolk) is the largest community college in the State of New York, serving about 26,000 students from 3 campuses on Long Island. Sixteen percent of its students are Hispanic or Latino.