Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Geoscience Courses: Results of the 2004 On the Cutting Edge Survey of U.S. Faculty

A survey of U.S. geoscience faculty provides an integrated look at the geoscience courses currently being taught and the teaching methods that are used in these courses. The survey data indicate that there is a wide array of offerings both at the introductory level and for majors and thus no standard geoscience curriculum. While teaching methods remain dominated by lecture, most faculty use a range of more interactive methods. Most students are asked to solve problems including quantitative ones as part of their courses although relatively few explore problems of their own choosing. Writing and reading in the primary literature are used extensively in courses of all sizes at both the introductory level and in courses for majors. Strategies and tools for assessing student learning are strongly dependent on class size; however, students are more likely to be assessed through problem sets, oral presentations or papers in courses for majors. There is no question that research on learning and the resulting recommendations for best classroom practice that have emerged over the past decade have had an impact on geosciences classes. On the other hand, there is room for growth. Our data suggest that most faculty are still using these techniques infrequently. These results strongly support the continued offering of professional development activities that both bring new ideas to faculty and address the practicalities of widespread implementation of these techniques.