Assessment and Active Learning Strategies for Introductory Geology Courses

Educational research findings suggest that instructors can foster the growth of thinking skills and promote science literacy by incorporating active learning strategies into the classroom. Active learning occurs when instructors build learner participation into classes. Learning in large, general education Earth Science classes was evaluated using formative assessment exercises conducted by students in groups. Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive development was used as a guide to identify critical thinking skills (comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) that could be linked to specific assessment methods such as conceptests, Venn diagrams, image analysis, concept maps, open-ended questions, and evaluation rubrics. Two instructors conducted a series of analyses on sample classes taught with traditional lecture and inquiry-based learning methods. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that such methods are preferred by students, improve student retention, produce no decrease in content knowledge, promote deeper understanding of course material, and increase logical thinking skills.