A Field-Based, Writing Intensive Undergraduate Course on Pacific Northwest Geology

Journal of Geoscience Education, Nov 2006 by Buddington, Andrew M

ABSTRACT

At Spokane Community College, a course in Pacific Northwest Geology provides students with a field-based approach to learning about the geology of the Pacific Northwest. This sophomore-level undergraduate course is a writing intensive course and meets the "W" (writing) requirements at Spokane Community College. The students participate in six laboratory field exercises where they document basic outcrop observations then submit three field reports that follow a specific field report format. Students are encouraged to view the reports as professional documents that will be provided to a client or fellow researcher. A final group project involves the creation of a web site virtual geology tour. Upon completion of the course, student field observational skills and technical writing abilities are greatly improved. Because of the high number of field trips involved, this lab science course is popular among both earth science majors and non-majors.

INTRODUCTION

Northeastern Washington State provides a rich diversity of geology. In the Spokane area, several key geologic features include the Columbia River Basalts, the Channeled Scablands, the Priest River metamorphic core complex, the Paleozoic continental margin, and the mid-Proterozoic Belt Supergroup. With only several hours of driving, students can observe the Coeur d'Alene mining district, Hells Canyon, the Cascade arc, two Mesozoic tectonic suture boundaries, and accretionary terranes. In all, this area provides an exceptional opportunity for undergraduate field instruction using a variety of spectacular, and very accessible, geologic features.

At Spokane Community College (SCC), a course in Pacific Northwest Geology (Geology 210) provides students with a hands-on, field-based approach to learning about the geology of the Pacific Northwest (Buddington, 2003). Geology 210 is a writing intensive course that places a strong emphasis both on field observations and on technical report writing. At SCC, transfer students pursuing an Associate of Arts degree are required to successfully complete a writing intensive course, i.e., a "W" course. To meet the "W" designation, fifty percent or more of the class grade must be based on writing assignments. At SCC, there is a "W" course committee that annually reviews course proposals by detailed evaluation of the submitted course curriculum. Geology 210 meets both the "W" course and laboratory science requirements for degree completion. At SCC, laboratory courses such as Geology 210 consist of seven contact hours weekly (three hours of lecture and two, two-hour laboratory sessions) with a total of twenty laboratory sessions per quarter. This emphasis on the laboratory experience is unique and allows for detailed instruction and hands-on learning of scientific technique and methodology. Geology 210 takes advantage of this format by combining a high number of field experiences (along with in-lab exercises) for sophomore-level students. Geology 210 consists of six mandatory lab field trips, which are local and three non-mandatory weekend regional field trips. A final group project requires students to visit a field site (no instructor supervision) with fellow group members. The opportunity for numerous field trips has created a popular interest from students wishing to take a laboratory science class. The laboratory field trips visit sites within a twenty minute drive of the campus and focus on one outcrop or site only. By visiting only one outcrop per lab trip, students spend a minimum of one hour at a specific site, which ultimately allows them to investigate and document the site in considerable detail.

Field trips for freshman and sophomore-level geology students are a popular form of teaching geology ut often have limited or vague outcomes for the students (Kern and Carpenter, 1986; Manner, 1995; Malone, 1999; Thomas, 2001). The Geology 210 laboratory field trips address this problem by requiring the students to document detailed field observations and write a technical site report. Previous papers on writing exercises in undergraduate geology courses indicate that writing is an important second component in helping undergraduates enhance their understanding of geological field relations (Griffith, 1982; Macdonald, 1991; Macdonald and Conrad, 1992; Wells, 1997). Repeated field and writing exercises early in the undergraduate experience clearly give students needed practice at field observation and technical writing, but also increase student understanding of their local and regional surroundings (Conrad and Macdonald, 1991; Snow, 1991; Mirsky, 1992; Rice-Snow, 1997). Finally, writing exercises help augment the laboratory and field experience, and allow for a productive research approach to learning earth science (Biersdorfer and Haynes, 1991; Niemitz and Potter, 1991; Huntoon, et al., 2001).

In Geology 210, particular emphasis is placed on the field report being a professional document that will ultimately be presented to a client or to earth science professionals, e.g., environmental engineers, mining company geologists, etc. Students are consistently reminded that the site reports are based on field data and that return to the site is generally not an option (however, many do return on their own time), and the quality of a report will be judged principally on their field observations. Students can not submit a report if they have not actually visited the site with their field partner.