You are browsing the archive for pedagogy Archives - GeoEd Trek.
January 13, 2023
Starting online courses with one-on-one student meetings
What happens when you meet one-on-one in Zoom with each student enrolled in your online, asynchronous course during the first week of the semester? (1) Depending upon the size of the class, you are exhausted(!) and unable to schedule other/additional meetings. (2) You learn just how much meeting their online professor means to students.
September 3, 2022
Getting Earth Science Students to Learn by Letting them Speak [guest post]
Everybody has stories to tell. Using of student-produced audio narratives in the classroom allows students to tell the stores behind the subject matter. This can then enhance learning and student engagement, while letting them have a little bit of fun along the way.
August 29, 2022
Take 5… Earth science information, by state
Preparations for teaching involve pulling together datasets, visualizations, and information that is geographically centered. For those looking for information relating to the geographic location (or U.S. state) for your campus, students may be interested in exploring these resources.
August 17, 2022
Giving students a survey on the first day? Think about what you are asking, and why
First-day survey responses can yield stepping stones to conversations and modifications with regards to our students and our courses. As instructors, we need to be mindful and thoughtful about the questions we ask, how we ask these questions, and what (if anything) we will do with those responses.
July 28, 2022
What Inclusive Instructors Do – a book from Stylus Publishing
The themes of “equity and belonging” are present throughout the book, emphasizing that instructors can design learning environments for all students to reach their potential within a welcoming space that fosters a sense of belonging.
March 14, 2022
Using learning analytics in courses via Review, Amend, Apply
Implementing practices such as Review, Amend, Apply have the opportunity for us to create a more inclusive, equitable, and supportive learning environment. We can’t address all of the questions we have in just one semester, but by taking some time to work forward with thought and intention, we can improve our own pedagogical practices while increasing student success each time we teach.
February 11, 2022
Student-generated geoscience voicemails for the future – or present
Creative geoscience-themed voicemail assignments can help students with communication and research skills, along with practice telling stories of science and solutions
January 14, 2022
Getting students to create their Climate Action Venn Diagram
There are so many calls for climate action, and these calls are increasing in volume and numbers. My 2022 New Year’s Resolution blog post was on climate action (I encourage you to check out the links in the blog post). But I know for my students, there needs to be a little more mentoring and guidance to help them feel prepared and empowered to take those steps and make a …
January 12, 2022
Starting the semester with understanding, decoding, and the process of science
Here are a few resources that may be useful to share with students as one kicks off the semester and starts talking about understanding, decoding, and the process of science
December 28, 2021
Getting students to create a course purpose statement
Having students write a course purpose statement at the beginning of a semester provides them an opportunity to articulate why they selected to study this content, what their overall learning goals are, and what they aim to accomplish in this course.
Laura Guertin is a Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at Penn State Brandywine in Media, PA. Her research focuses on how technology can enhance teaching and student learning in introductory-level geoscience courses for non-science majors. Her blog focuses on geoscience education/outreach, science communication, and technology tools in the classroom, online, and in the field.