Site Guide: Teaching in the Field

Field Guides and Activities

Using Field Labs - This pedagogic module, from Pedagogy in Action, describes field labs and their use, including logistical tips and suggestions for effective implementation. It includes a searchable collection of example activities and a reference list.

Geoscience in the Field - From On the Cutting Edge, this site hosts activities and courses, as well as a collection of posters from a 2004 GSA session on using field observations and field experiences to teach geoscience.

Teaching Activities in the Field - Each of our teaching activities includes a brief summary of the activity, student learning goals, contextual information on how to use it in your class, teaching notes and tips, and suggestions for assessing student learning. You can search this collection of more than a thousand activities by topic.

The Montana-Yellowstone Geologic Field Guide Database - The Montana-Yellowstone Geologic Field Guide Database is a pilot project for making the field guide literature more accessible and useful to geoscience educators, students, and researchers. While the database is not an exhaustive listing of every published field guide, nor does it provide direct links to the full text of each reference (except for a few unpublished field guides which are reproduced as pdf files), the database is a fully-searchable listing of 50 of the best references for exploring the geology of this fascinating region.

Resources and Information

Teaching with GeoPads - This site is designed to help teachers and students effectively and efficiently use GeoPads (portable GIS-based mapping and note-taking computers) in field-based instructional and research activities. This site provides practical advice on selecting software and hardware, accessing and formatting data, and designing and implementing instructional activities. In addition, "best instructional practices" in using GeoPads are described, including learning goals, expected outcomes, and assessment strategies.

Teaching in the Field - This site, from NAGT, includes links to a searchable collection of field trips, published field guide books, and other resources on teaching in the field, including a guide to field safety.

Field-Based Learning - From the Research on Learning in the Geosciences Synthesis project, this synthesis of the research on learning in the geosciences related to learning in the field focuses on the cognitive strategies necessary for learning in the field, how students learn these strategies, what methods are most effective in helping students to learn these strategies, and how to assess the impact of field experiences on student learning. A searchable annotated bibliography for over 100 resources on the topic is also available.

Using Field Experiences to Teach Geoscience - From On the Cutting Edge, this site hosts information, including posters, from a 2004 GSA session on using field observations and field experiences to teach geoscience.