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This paper studies Greek junior high school students' alternative ideas, both initial and synthetic, on geodynamic phenomena. It comments in detail on students' concepts on Earth structure, earthquake occurrence, volcano formation, and relief change. Additionally, it attempts to trace and interpret how and why these ideas form (concept development), presenting that initial and synthetic ones are indissolubly attached and utterly directed by environmental interaction. Data analysis verifies that curriculum inadequacy and false scientific terminology in textbooks enforce the generation of alternative ideas. New synthetic alternative ideas on geodynamic phenomena are presented which are mainly characterized by intermittent and fragmentary perspective. Furthermore, the characteristics of both initial and synthetic alternative ideas are outlined, giving emphasis on the facts that students represent geodynamic phenomena as instantaneous events and that they are able to describe the repeatability of the phenomena, but they show difficulty in capturing their continuity. Finally, more factors that control alternative idea development on geodynamic phenomena are highlighted--such as (i) lack of continuous thinking, (ii) distribution, intensity and frequency of geodynamic phenomena, and (iii) current affairs (i.e., pollution, technology evolution, human intervention)--hoping that their revelation will lead to alternative ideas' decomposition and thus to pure scientific knowledge.

We present a quantitative study of responses to voluntary and anonymous surveys of undergraduate geology students enrolled at an English-medium, research university in South Africa. This research captured student interest in geology, their perceived level of understanding of key geological concepts, and the extent to which in-class and in-field experiences impacts both. The first survey was prior to undergraduate field trips (May 2021) and was followed by the post-field second survey (November 2021). The surveys included Likert-type responses, multiple choice responses, and open-ended qualitative comments from the students. Of the total responses (n = 147), 83% knew "a little" about geology before starting their degree, and most (63%) chose to study geology because of an inherent interest in the earth. Up to 40% of students perceived that practicals helped them to better understand theoretical content, including key geological concepts. Of the five key geological concepts examined, the students felt that plate tectonics, age relationships, and uniformitarianism were "easy" to grasp, but deep time and 3-D perception could only be understood once in their fourth year. Field experiences were perceived to improve students' conceptual understanding of all five concepts, and this study suggests that field work enhances student interest in geology. However, further interest can be promoted using more in-field exercises and hands-on practicals dealing with real-world geological situations. Overall, the results suggest that in-field and practical abilities in geology remain critical, as they stimulate understanding of key concepts and, if pitched correctly, generate and sustain the interest of geoscience students.

Explaining phenomena associated with a system involves describing a system's structure and articulating the process through which the system's structure changes over time. This paper defines geo-sequential reasoning in the context of plate tectonics and uses it to analyse how students explain the geological processes that occur along convergent boundaries as part of the plate tectonics system. This study was part of design-based research on an online Plate tectonics module that included simulation-based modelling developed for secondary school students. We analysed students' explanations (n = 950) about phenomena found along a convergent boundary (1) as an oceanic plate and a continental plate move towards each other and (2) between two oceanic plates located on the opposite side of a tectonic plate from a divergent boundary. We also analysed images created by students of the simulation as evidence to support their explanations. We found that a majority of students used simulation-based evidence when describing the sequence of events along the convergent boundary and that the synced planet surface and cross-section views in the simulation supported students' inclusion of processes responsible for the events. These findings have implications for how teaching and research with dynamic simulations can support reasoning built with temporal evidence.

Understanding mechanisms underpinning formation of convection currents is pivotal for developing explanations of plate tectonics when teaching Geoscience topics. While student generated diagrams explaining convection currents may be used to evaluate student conceptual understanding and alternative conceptions in this topic, students may need support to produce elaborated explanatory diagrams. This study investigates the affordances of dialogue with peers and knowledgeable others as students construct explanatory diagrams of convection current formation and plate movement. Grade 8 students (n = 37) participated in small group and whole class discussions to construct explanations of plate movements at divergent boundaries and then drew diagrams to elaborate their understanding of this phenomenon. Throughout the process students were encouraged to mentally engage with the drawing process through discussions with peers and teachers. The drawing process provided opportunities for teachers to identify alternative conceptions that were not evident in teacher-student dialogic interactions but were evident in diagrams and to encourage consideration of scientific explanations through use of probing questions about what students were representing. The drawing process also elicited discussions between peers about complex interactions occurring within the mantle, during which some students became aware of inconsistencies within their explanations which led to adoption of more scientifically accurate conceptions.

Spatial reasoning ability is key to an individual's understanding of geology and geosciences more broadly. One reason why is because spatial ability allows individuals to use multiple external representations (MERs) to understand information that they cannot normally interact with directly, such as the Earth. This article presents results from two studies that investigate the relationship between students' understanding of plate tectonics and their use of MERs along with spatial ability more broadly. Students' spatial ability was measured using the Perspective Taking Spatial Orientation Test, Water Level Task, and Purdue Spatial Visualization Tests: Visualization of Rotations. Students' understanding of plate tectonics was measured using a variable representation assessment. This type of assessment lets students actively use different MERs as answer options. The results of the two studies suggest that spatial ability did not have a direct relationship with students' scores on the plate tectonics assessment. Instead, students' understanding of plate tectonics may be better understood through their prior knowledge of the subject and their use of MERs. Specifically, their collective increased attention in using one particular type of representation. More research should be conducted to further understand what scenarios spatial ability aids students' understanding of plate tectonics and other areas of geosciences.

Guiding teachers to customize curriculum has shown to improve science instruction when guided effectively. We explore how teachers use student data to customize a web-based science unit on plate tectonics. We study the implications for teacher learning along with the impact on student self-directed learning. During a professional development workshop, four 7th grade teachers reviewed logs of their students' explanations and revisions. They used a curriculum visualization tool that revealed the pedagogy behind the unit to plan their customizations. To promote self-directed learning, the teachers decided to customize the guidance for explanation revision by giving students a choice among guidance options. They took advantage of the web-based unit to randomly assign students (N = 479) to either a guidance Choice or a no-choice condition. We analyzed logged student explanation revisions on embedded and pre-test/post-test assessments and teacher and student written reflections and interviews. Students in the guidance Choice condition reported that the guidance was more useful than those in the no-choice condition and made more progress on their revisions. Teachers valued the opportunity to review student work, use the visualization tool to align their customization with the knowledge integration pedagogy, and investigate the choice option empirically. These findings suggest that the teachers' decision to offer choice among guidance options promoted aspects of self-directed learning.

We investigate an interactive teacher-generated drawing strategy in which the teacher constructs a drawing with the help of the students. The students contribute their ideas on how to visualize to-be-drawn concepts, embedded in an interactive process. The present study explored whether learning from a scientific text on plate tectonics could be enhanced by an interactive teacher-generated drawing strategy. A number of studies on student-generated drawings have shown that students have difficulties to accurately represent scientific information (i.e. Van Meter & Garner, 2005). One solution to such difficulties--providing external illustrations for comparison--has not always been helpful (Fiorella & Zhang, 2018), because students need support on how to process the provided illustrations. Ninety-four 8th-grade students (M = 13.34, SD = 0.50) participated in the study. Instructions varied according to a 2 × 2 factorial between-subjects design with "student-generated drawings" (yes, no) and "interactive teacher-generated drawings" (yes, no) as the two factors. The following conditions were applied: reading a scientific text; reading and creating drawings; reading and engaging in the interactive drawing process; reading and creating drawings as well as engaging in the interactive drawing process. Subsequently, the students answered questions about their comprehension (transfer, recall, and drawing). The interactive teacher-generated drawing groups (interactive teacher-generated drawing group, student-and-interactive teacher-generated drawing group) showed better transfer, recall, and drawing performance than the non-interactive groups (no-strategy group, student-generated drawing group). No effects were found for student-generated drawings on the immediate posttests. However, interactive teacher-generated drawings and student-generated drawings enhanced drawing performance in the long term. Interactive teacher-generated drawing can be seen as an effective strategy for fostering mental model building to enhance learning and understanding of scientific text.

In this study, we examined the ways in which two middle school science teachers elicited and were responsive to students' initial science ideas for explaining an anchoring phenomenon while teaching the same model-based learning unit focused on plate tectonics. Data sources included student models, classroom video, and classroom artifacts. Our analysis revealed a connection between the elicitation of initial ideas, teacher responsiveness to those ideas, and the continued use of those ideas by the students across the unit as evidenced in their individually constructed models. In both classrooms, variation in initial ideas seen on the first day narrowed as students engaged in activities designed to challenge their ideas and present the scientifically accepted explanation of the phenomenon. In one classroom, however, far more ideas were surfaced early, and those ideas were utilized by students as they made sense of the phenomenon. In the other classroom, far fewer ideas were surfaced early and those that were all but disappeared once the unit activities began suggesting student ideas were less likely to be utilized as a sense-making resource. This study contributes to a growing understanding of the importance of eliciting and responding to students' initial ideas in students' productive disciplinary engagement across an instructional unit.

Current science education efforts emphasise the need to train students to understand the nature of scientific work. In geosciences, training students to understand how science works does not only promote their interest and community engagement in the field, but also has the potential to promote awareness and ethics. However, instructional activities using an explicit and reflective approach to promote students' learning of the nature of science concepts remain scant. In this paper, a two-class unit intervention using an explicit reflective approach to the teaching of nature of science was used in an undergraduate lesson on the history of plate tectonics. We measured the influence of the lesson on students' nature of science knowledge using the Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry instrument. We collected parallel quantitative and qualitative pre- and post-intervention data from 37 community college students involved in a physical geology course. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that students' nature of science knowledge related to the tentativeness of scientific theories and the role of society and culture in science improved after the intervention unit. Results imply that geoscience educators should consider using explicit and reflective approaches when using the history of science to teach about the nature of science.

In this integrative, team-based capstone project, students in an upper year Tectonics course built a planet of their own design from the basic concepts of plate tectonics. They created a tectonic map complete with plate boundaries, continental-ocean boundaries, motion vectors, and hot spot traces. In subsequent weeks, students produced a geologic map illustrating features that were a consequence of decisions made in creating their tectonic map. Students designed their own legend and determined the specificity or generality in which they conveyed geologic features at the scale of their map. Students also created a physiographic map reflective of the geology of their planet. Evaluation of student artifacts indicates the project was successful in meeting learning outcomes that challenged students to think in three-dimensions and over geologic timescales, and to develop problem-solving skills; a learning outcome of integrating knowledge from other courses was also met, but to a lesser degree and with more variability among teams. With minor adjustments, this project could be implemented in any tectonics course, or in other subjects including oceanography, atmospheric science, or paleontology.

Many geoscience phenomena cannot be perceived at human temporal or spatial scales. As a consequence, we can only understand many processes that drive geological phenomena through analogical reasoning. Building deep conceptual understanding requires instruction that activates the appropriate source analogs and allows students to build useful conceptual metaphors. In this paper we illustrate, using plate tectonics as an example, how educational guidelines for teaching geosciences can be developed by linking the Model of Educational Reconstruction with Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Qualitative content analysis in combination with systematic metaphor analysis of scientific textbooks and semi-structured interviews conducted with students (n = 36) provided insight into the image schemas used by scientists and learners. Difficulties in understanding plate tectonics structures and processes, e.g. subduction, arise because many students understand tectonic plates as single bodies, rather than composites. Similarly, students' difficulties explaining plate movement result from activation of a push rather than a pull schema. Through exploring schemas for plate tectonics, we illustrate the value of combining Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the Model of Educational Reconstruction for (1) understanding alternative conceptions as grounded in image schemas and (2) developing educational guidelines for improving instruction.

This paper explored the integration of science and language instruction during a unit on plate tectonics in a 7th grade transitional bilingual classroom. As not many studies have explored engaging bilingual learners in the Next Generation Science Standards practices of argumentation and explanation, we sought to analyze emergent bilinguals' construction and communication of scientific arguments and explanations in oral and written forms. We collected both classroom video data and student written work. We first analyzed student work associated with the unit's culminating task as evidence of the students' developing proficiency with science ideas, cognizant of what emergent bilinguals at varying levels of language proficiency are able to do with respect to producing the language functions of explain and argue. For video data, we created event maps of all classroom interaction and then narrowed our focus to key moments of interaction to shed light on the relationships among classroom instruction, written work, and writing reflected in the culminating task. With respect to argumentation, findings indicated that students demonstrated success in constructing claims throughout the unit and on the culminating task and were able to provide some type of evidence to support their claims. This was evident when students could tap into all their linguistic repertoires, using home language and new language to make sense of science. Although most students were still developing to provide sufficient evidence and incorporate scientific reasoning, the use of both home and new language allowed students to articulate initial understandings about scientific concepts such as convection currents and plate boundaries. Students who used home language were also able to provide more extended explanations, moving from using language immediately tied to the environment to attempting to use scientific discourse to explain phenomena. We recommend that teachers celebrate emerging skills and build on the rich linguistic and experiential resources emergent bilinguals bring to optimize participation in the practices of science and facilitate scientific understanding.

International research into the nature, emergence, and development of geographical misconceptions is substantial. However, Hungarian educational research lags behind in exploring this phenomenon in detail. The present study identified some plate-tectonics-related misconceptions of three distinctive groups of students: ninth-grade secondary school students as well as university undergraduates consisting of geography B.Sc. students and B.A. students. Employing a cross-case-based approach, multiple kinds of data were collected for triangulation. A three-part diagnostic test was administered to students, and results were evaluated by comparative content analysis. While culturally induced misconceptions were not present, mistakes in textbooks, the linguistic characteristics of the Hungarian language as well as extensive media coverage of certain topics and informal learning interfere in the emergence of geographical misconceptions. The authors argue that both secondary and tertiary education should move to a more practical and innovative pedagogy where geographical knowledge is organically anchored into everyday life with the direct refutation of possible misconceptions.

This study examined a case of GeoMapApp-based assessment to investigate a learning progression for middle school students' understanding of geoscience content and geocognition (spatial, temporal, and retrospective reasoning and system thinking). A 2-year GeoMapApp-based assessment process was administered along with a double-round of the construct modeling approach. Based on the measurement of Rasch analysis, the geocognition learning progression was described in terms of data-driven level, meaning-acquiring level, knowledge-constructing level, and complex reasoning with geocognition level. The geocognition learning progression developed in this study had significant implications in terms of the progress variables integrating geoscientific reasoning practices with geoscience content and the perspective on learning with adopting work-with-it view. While this content is applicable in all regions, it is especially helpful for science teachers in the Asia-Pacific region to understand geocognition learning progressions to improve teaching and better support students to understand local geological environments in terms of plate tectonics.

Understanding plate tectonics is pivotal to development of an integrated understanding of Geoscience topics. However, geology is frequently introduced to students in lower secondary school by describing separate processes, such as sedimentary rock formation, rather than investigating the overall driving forces for change. This study investigated what Grade 8 students (N = 37) drew to explain plate tectonics in relation to convection currents and how they integrated their prior learning into a holistic understanding through the drawing process. Students' explanatory diagrams revealed challenges to students' sense-making of this dynamic process which have not previously been documented, such as integrating understanding of temperature, density and pressure into an explanation for bulk movement of material in convection currents; and interactions between convection currents in the mantle and the tectonic plates. Understanding students' alternative conceptions at these fundamental levels provides opportunities for teachers to address these conceptions earlier in the teaching cycle. The results suggest that introduction to geology through student-generated visual representations may support students to construct better scientific explanations of the dynamic, complex processes of plate tectonics.

Learning with Web-based geographic information system (Web GIS) can promote geospatial thinking and analysis of georeferenced data. Web GIS can enable learners to analyze rich data sets to understand spatial relationships that are managed in georeferenced data visualizations. We developed a Web GIS plate tectonics simulation as a capstone learning activity in an undergraduate Earth Science course that integrated geological and geophysical data sets to allow students to dynamically reconstruct ancient plate motions. To assess the effectiveness of the Web GIS tectonics simulation, all 12 students in the course submitted three artifacts that were assessed with a reliable, criterion-based rubric. The students also completed a survey to assess the effectiveness of the online interface and its capability to promote geospatial thinking. The students preformed quite well on the assignment. The survey results supported that the students perceived the Web GIS tectonics simulation as having helped them think geospatially. Our Web GIS design and embedded capabilities allowed students to advance and confirm their understandings about the tectonics concepts. Student responses indicated that the Web GIS supported their geospatial analysis for making inferences about space, geospatial patterns, and geospatial relationships among the data that were visualized in the Web GIS. Design features that contributed to the successful implementation are discussed.

In our study we discuss the traditional and novel concepts of East Siberian Shelf origin with regards to the structure and composition of the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic sediments, coming to the surface on the Siberian Islands ?rchipel?go. The core idea is to summarize the existing concepts of East Siberian Shelf formation and to draw up the strong theory of its origin. We suggest that before the Middle Paleozoic, the Siberian Islands ?rchipel?go (Novosibirsk unit) was part of the Siberian craton. The formation of the South ?nyui small oceanic basin became one of the key events in the geologic history of this territory. Formation of South ?nyui small oceanic basin is associated with the Late Devoni?n-E?rly Carboniferous rift genesis. During the Late Paleozoic, the passive continental margin was formed on the southern slope of the Novosibirsk unit. After the closure of the South ?nyui Ocean under the influence of Late Cretaceous stretching processes the rift system of the northwestern strike was formed, over which the East Siberian basin was later formed.

This article addresses the problems of tectonic zoning and determination of geodynamical nature of the formation of jointed tectonic structures within the North Caspian oil and gas basin, represented by Caspian Depression of Russian platform of East European Pre-Cambrian Craton and plate ancient Precambrian Platform stabilization and Turan (Scythian-Turan) plate of Cimmerian (Mesozoic) folding. It is stated that the principle of zoning according to time of the final phase of folding in practice is used more often, although this principle was established by geosynclines concept, which was a major paradigm of fixism geotectonic school. It is noted that the main reason of the demand for the fixists principle of zoning, while ignoring main provisions of a more progressive mobilistic concept of plate tectonics, is explained by the inability to discover the interdependence of folded structures of the regional continents formation and isometric forms with closing of ocean basins, comparable with modern (Mesozoic-Cainozoic) oceans. Although almost all the researchers on this region associates the establishment of the above mentioned plate structures with the development of a hypothetical large oceans of the Paleozoic--Paleo-Uralian ocean and Paleo-Tethys Ocean, respectively. The article specifies the divisiveness of such an interpretation, as the results of research allow us to defend the idea of the regional character of the plate tectonics in pre-Mesozoic stage of development of the planet. From such point of view, the Paleozoic history of the formation of Caspian Depression platform cover and folded basement of Turan (Scythian-Turan) plate cannot be associated with the global plate tectonics.

In the past few decades, scientific and educational entities in the United States have repeatedly expended considerable fiscal and human resources in an effort to establish contemporary education standards, curriculum frameworks, and assessment tools. These efforts are intended to reform the quantity and quality of K-16 Earth science education across the U.S. including, most recently, the Next Generation Science Standards. Most of the reform efforts enthusiastically recommend a constructivist-oriented approach to instruction that requires educators to clearly identify their learning targets. At the same time, a contemporary approach to instruction requires educators to be aware of misconceptions, misunderstandings, naïve beliefs, and alternative frameworks students bring to the learning experience. Although several dated surveys of learners' geology misconceptions exist across the scholarly literature landscape, little of the geology misconceptions literature is systematically organised around the current collections of U.S. national standards and frameworks. Geoscience educators, curriculum developers, and assessment specialists benefit from summaries of misconceptions research organised around various national reform efforts.

Students struggle with observing scientifically and connecting observations to scientific theory. This study investigates how students actually use observation in rock classification -- a classical practical task in science education. To describe the level of students' use of observation, data was collected by videotaping 19 small student groups (55 students aged 16-18) in Norway while they were classifying rocks. A modified version of the observation framework proposed by [Eberbach, C., & Crowley, K. (2009). From everyday to scientific observation: How children learn to observe the biologist's world. "Review of Educational Research," 79(1), 39-68] is used to analyse how students' notice features of rocks (noticing) and interpret the geological processes forming those features (expectations) at different levels: everyday, transitional or scientific. The findings showed that none of the student groups used everyday observation. Three student groups used observation at a transitional level, whereas twelve groups performed observation that can be described as transitional/scientific level. Four student groups used scientific observation. Based on the findings, an observation framework for rock classification is proposed. The challenges encountered by the students are discussed, thus providing ideas for how teachers can support students to use scientific observation in rock classification.

This article represents the findings from the qualitative portion of a mixed methods study that investigated the impact of middle school students' spatial skills on their plate tectonics learning while using a computer visualization. Higher spatial skills have been linked to higher STEM achievement, while use of computer visualizations has mixed results for helping various students with different spatial levels. This study endeavors to better understand the difference between what high and low spatial-skilled middle school students notice and interpret while using a plate tectonic computer visualization. Also, we examine the differences in the quantity and quality of students' spatial language. The collected data include student spatial scores, student interviews, screencasts, and online artifacts. The artifacts were students' answers to questions inserted in an online curriculum (GEODE) with the embedded computer visualization (Seismic Explorer). Students were asked what they "noticed" during interviews and in the curriculum. Typed student answers and interviews were analyzed for types and quantity of spatial words. Analysis of typed answers and interviews indicated that there are differences in the number and types of spatial words used by high or low spatial students. Additionally, high spatial learners talk about depth, notice patterns in data and are more likely to make a hypothesis to explain what they see on the screen. Findings suggest that students go through an iterative cycle of noticing and interpreting when using a scientific model. Overall, results show a significant positive relationship between spatial skills and what students notice while learning plate tectonics. An explanation for the increased gain in plate tectonics comprehension is that students with higher spatial skills notice more, so they are able to interpret more details of the model. This finding implies that students with low spatial skills do not benefit as much from use of a computer visualization and will need more scaffolding in order to interpret details in the computer visualization.

International research has recognized numerous alternative conceptions and obstacles to learning about Earth dynamics. The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of a teaching intervention that incorporates models and scientific inquiry to promote understanding about Earth dynamics in a group of seventh grade students at a school in Santiago, Chile. Through a quantitative approach, a quasi-experimental design was implemented with pre- and post-test evaluation of a control and an experimental group. Student-centred lessons were implemented in the experimental group, where data and evidence were analyzed, and analogical models were used to represent the collision of tectonic plates and the formation of relief. In the control group, the teaching of the same contents was carried out by a more "teacher-centred" approach. The participants were 60 7th grade students (36 girls and 24 boys) aged between 12 and 14 years. Student performances were measured with an instrument created and validated in a previous research project, which addressed three main topics: Earth layers, Earth dynamics and continental drift. We identified 26 misconceptions, many of which have not been described by previous studies. At the end of the intervention, both groups improved their knowledge about Earth sciences, but the effect was greater in the experimental group (mean = 26.8, t = -10.24, r = 0.81, p < 0.001) compared to the control group (mean = 22.4; t = -8.3; r = 0.65, p < 0.001). The results suggest that student-centered strategies represent an effective means for decreasing students' misconceptions about plate tectonics and Earth science concepts in general.

This study examined middle school students' knowledge and beliefs about earthquake and tsunami through a multidimensional perspective of conceptual change theory. Four related constructs of conceptual change were examined including students' science knowledge, preparedness knowledge, ontological beliefs, and epistemic beliefs. Students responded textually and graphically to prompts in workbooks and verbally in semi-structured interviews. Four prominent themes were identified in the students' responses: (1) supergiant tsunami wave with near absolute and unavoidable catastrophic effects, (2) diminished effect of earthquakes as compared to tsunamis, (3) earthquakes and tsunamis could occur at any time in the area, and (4) strong intent to protect self and family from harm. Study results indicate that all four conceptual change constructs contributed to the students' conceptions represented by these prominent themes. Students hold parallel ontologies of the nature of earthquake and tsunami geophysical phenomena and preparedness phenomena. Earthquakes and tsunamis are emotionally charged topics for students living in a region subject to a megathrust earthquake and resulting tsunami. Students seek information about these hazards, often through online sources which may foster naïve conceptions. Educational theory for earthquake and tsunami instruction can be further developed using the methods and initial results of this study to examine in greater detail the relationships between students' geoscience and preparedness knowledge and their ontological and epistemic beliefs. Implications for instruction include formative assessment that makes visible students' knowledge and beliefs in order to develop metacognition of their own conceptions and to inform subsequent instruction. Results indicate that geoscience instruction should be accompanied by instruction on preparedness actions that are locally relevant to students' lives in order to reduce fear and anxiety and to develop students' perceptions of themselves as active agents who can have a positive influence on the outcome of these events.

Helping students understand that the scientific community's claims change through time, sometimes radically, allows them to develop a well-grounded sense of the "nature of science." Learning to reason about how scientific claims come to be accepted, and later refuted, is important for understanding the tentative nature of scientific claims (Allchin 2012). The unit described in this article scaffolds students' understanding of plate tectonics and the nature, and history, of geological sciences by engaging them in the process of evaluating competing scientific claims. In the unit students evaluate evidence quality, learn central organizing principles of geology, and develop a more sophisticated understanding of the nature of science in the context of a model-based inquiry unit. Pedagogical techniques include: (1) Making use of historical cases where scientists contended with competing claims; (2) Promoting disciplinary literacy with adapted primary literature; and (3) Using graphical organizers to scaffold student reasoning. The entire unit takes about two weeks (ten class periods of 45--50 minutes) to complete.

This article proposes an evidence-based and engaging approach to teaching the mechanisms driving the movement of tectonic plates that should lead high school students towards the prevalent theories used in peer-reviewed science journals and taught in universities. The methods presented replace the inaccurate and outdated focus on mantle convection as the driving mechanism for plate motion. Students first examine the relationship between the percentages of plate boundary types of the 14 largest plates with their GPS-determined plate speeds to then evaluate the three possible driving mechanisms: mantle convection, ridge push and slab pull. A classroom experiment measuring the densities of igneous and metamorphic rocks associated with subduction zones then provides a plausible explanation for slab pull as the dominant driving mechanism. Basalt and gabbro of oceanic lithosphere, that is positively buoyant compared to the peridotite of the asthenosphere, changes to denser negatively buoyant eclogite as it descends so that it sinks into the mantle and pulls the tectonic plate along behind it.

There is a need for research-informed instructional approaches that promote school students' deep conceptual understanding of abstract geological concepts. Given that a type of learner-constructed stop-motion animation, 'slowmation', has been shown to offer affordances for learning in science preservice teacher education, we extended its application to middle school students and investigated the impact of the construction process on students' learning about plate tectonics. Drawing upon theoretical notions of knowledge reconstruction, this mixed methods case study explored two research questions that concerned the extent to which the slowmation construction process influenced students' conceptual understanding about plate tectonics and how students' learning was facilitated by the slowmation construction process. The participants were ninth grade students (n = 52) who constructed slowmations in small groups to explain the geological processes that occur at tectonic plate boundaries. Data were generated using a two-tiered multiple-choice test instrument, the GeoQuiz, which we designed and validated, and audio-recordings of students working together as they researched, planned, and constructed their slowmations. A significant improvement was found in students' GeoQuiz scores, from pretest to posttest, which indicates their conceptual understanding improved over the course of the construction process. Analysis of the qualitative data found that students' ideas increased in sophistication through 'teachable moments', wherein students learnt through dialogic teacher-student and student-student exchanges. We assert that such exchanges ought to be viewed as an integral part of the slowmation construction process itself. While the study's findings support existing research that suggests representation-based activities are effective for student learning of geological phenomena, they also raise important questions about how to best engage middle school students in the construction of a slowmation.

It is important to question the generalizability of the knowledge about the nature of science (NOS), and thus know whether the knowledge about NOS can be transferred to various contexts. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether students were able to transfer their acquired NOS understandings into contexts that vary in their similarity to the context of learning. Thirty-eight 7th grade students in two intact sections participated in the study. The treatment extended over seven weeks and involved teaching a unit about plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Only one of the two groups was explicitly taught about NOS in relation to the topics under study. To assess the change in students' understandings of NOS and their ability to transfer these acquired understandings, a five-topic open-ended questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews were used. Some of the questionnaire topics focused on scientific issues and were considered similar to the context of learning, while other topics were socioscientific and were considered less similar. Results showed that the transfer of participants' acquired NOS understandings occurred when the context was similar to the context of learning and when the context was more familiar based on prior knowledge. Interpretations related to knowledge base schema, the distance between contexts, as well as the explicit teaching about transfer were discussed.

Plate tectonics is the organizing paradigm of geosciences, but it is also conceptually complex, and students often struggle with developing a system level understanding of the earth. This article reports on research designed to create a characterization of the different levels of sophistication around plate tectonics in the form of a learning progression for middle grades (grades 6--9). A learning progression is an educational research construct that can guide curriculum, assessment, and instruction by creating a description not just of students' misunderstandings but of a sequential pattern of increasingly sophisticated and productive student conceptions. This article reports on research findings from a 7-year National Science Foundation-funded project focused on the teaching and learning of earth and space science, which engaged in hundreds of conceptual interviews with students in diverse contexts across the state of Pennsylvania. This article focuses on the implications for higher education faculty in geosciences with regard to the preparation of students, the likely alternative conceptions they may hold, and hence instructional approaches to help their ideas mature toward a normative scientific understanding.

Should instructors assume that students possess conceptual knowledge of plate tectonics when they reach a second college geoscience course? Five cohorts in a historical geology course over 5 y--a total of 149 students--completed an in-class assignment in which they drew sketches of plate boundaries with required annotations. Analysis of the sketches revealed that most students lack an explanatory mental model that links the locations of earthquakes, volcanoes, and magma generation to plate-boundary processes and hold a pervasive alternative conception of Earth's interior structure that does not distinguish between compositional and rheological boundaries. Students who drew sketches that illustrated the most alternative conceptions also scored lower on a beginning-of-the-course administration of the Geoscience Concept Inventory, showing that conceptual understanding of plate tectonics correlates with overall conceptual geoscience knowledge obtained during previous course experiences. In addition, students tracking to the historical geology course via an introductory physical geology course showed stronger conceptual understanding of plate tectonics than those choosing an Earth-system science prerequisite, with those students previously enrolled in both courses illustrating the fewest alternative conceptions.

The theory of plate tectonics is the conceptual model through which most dynamic processes on Earth are understood. A solid understanding of the basic tenets of this theory is crucial in developing a scientifically literate public and future geoscientists. The size of plates and scale of tectonic processes are inherently unobservable, necessitating the use of images and models in instruction. To explore plate tectonics conceptions held by undergraduates, we designed and administered a postinstruction survey instrument centered on a common schematic representation of plate tectonics. We report results from a sample of n = 60 nongeoscience majors enrolled in five different introductory Earth-science courses taught at a major research university and a community college. Students held a number of alternative conceptions associated with terminology, plate motion, and plate-related subsurface melting. We also note that some aspects of figures commonly used to teach plate tectonics are problematic for students and may actually result in reinforcement of alternative conceptions. Further work at both the K-12 and college levels directed at innovative approaches to address student conceptions regarding plate tectonics, including designing images that support key scientific messages, is needed. This research can inform curriculum development for entry-level geoscience courses as well as the use of images to convey complex science.

Results from the Volcanic Concept Survey (VCS) indicated that many undergraduates do not fully understand volcanic systems and plate tectonics. During the 2006 academic year, a ten-item conceptual survey was distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in Earth science courses at five U.S. colleges and universities. A trained team of graders scored 672 completed surveys, coding responses to each item with a score, out of 3, based on accuracy and comprehensiveness. Questions requiring only basic content knowledge (e.g., terminology, volcano topology) received more high scoring responses than questions requiring higher thinking and deeper conceptual connections (association with plate tectonics, prediction of hazards and impacts on the environment). The mechanics of eruptions also appeared to be poorly understood. Special attention was paid to students' alternate conceptions about where volcanoes are likely to form. Male students, students highly interested in science, and students who lived in a volcanically active area received significantly higher total scores than other student groups. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors also performed significantly better than non-STEM majors. Understanding the nature of student comprehension and misconception may be useful for geoscience educators seeking to address student preconceptions and promote conceptual change.

We developed a middle school earthquake science and hazards curriculum to promote earthquake awareness to students in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan. These materials include pre- and post-assessment activities, six science activities describing physical processes related to earthquakes, five activities on earthquake hazards and mitigation strategies, and a codification art/literacy project. This curriculum was implemented with 43 middle school students in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in the winter of 2008. We examine the effectiveness of each curriculum component in communicating the causes, effects, and mitigation strategies associated with earthquakes to young people, and find significant improvements in seismic and earthquake hazards literacy as a result of the program.

The goal of this study is to identify Thai students' prior knowledge about particle motion when P-waves arrive. This existing idea significantly influences what and how students learn in the classroom. The data were collected via conceptual open-ended questions designed by the researchers and through explanatory follow-up interviews. Participants (n = 171) were freshmen in science, engineering, agricultural sciences, and medicine fields enrolled in a university in Thailand. The major categories of Thai students' prior knowledge about particle motion at P-wave arrival are (1) the belief that particles spread in all directions, like water waves, when P-waves arrive, (2) the belief that particles move forward with a sine wave motion, and that these particles travel with the propagating wave energy to the P-wave's final destination, (3) the belief that particles vertically move back and forth at P-wave arrival. These beliefs are the alternative conception held by more than three-quarter of our study population. The other held the scientific conception (category 4) that particles in a medium vibrate in the same direction as the propagating wave energy when Pwaves arrive, coupled with recognition that particles do not travel with the propagating energy. Recognizing the existence of this prior knowledge is vital to creating teaching strategies to promote the conceptual change approach, which is based on both historical Piagetian learning theory and the new trend "knowledge in pieces", about particle motion and seismic energy, in particular, as well as earthquakes, in general.

For an inquiry-based alternative to lectures and recall tests, I encouraged learners to become "geotourists"; that is, learners researched and developed a geologic guidebook to a United States National Park of their choice. Over the course of a semester, students wrote chapters on plate tectonics, the rock cycle, geologic history, groundwater and hydrology, geomorphology, and topographic maps. By applying the physical geology concepts to a particular location, learners found the material to be relevant and engaging. Keys to success included developing detailed rubrics, reading multiple drafts, and using appropriate instructional technologies. Students who participated in the class reported that the project involved considerable work, but was more interesting and relevant than lecture exams.

The elastic rebound theory is a fundamental explanatory geoscience construct introduced in most introductory undergraduate geoscience courses. Classroom experience, supported by a recent case study of undergraduate students' model-building activities, indicates that learning this theory tends to be incomplete, in spite of instruction employing external representations and other analogies. Using conceptual metaphor theory as a lens to investigate such instruction, this project sought to document students' understandings of elasticity within a plate tectonics context, and identify and describe learning demands that must first be addressed for analogies and models to be effective. The project also evaluated the efficacy of an instructional intervention that provides learners with an experience with rocks that most daily encounters do not: the elastic deformation of rocks. Using a nonequivalent groups design of 81 undergraduate students enrolled in a 100-level geoscience course, this work revealed that prior to instruction all participants were familiar with the concept of elasticity. However, only 35.8% were able to demonstrate an understanding aligned with the scientific consensus. Relevant to the elastic rebound theory, just over 50% conceptualized tectonic plates and Earth's upper interior as being composed of rocks, and 67.9% identified tectonic plates as elastic. However, indicative of a shallow understanding, only 18.5% recognized that rocks, which make up tectonic plates, behave elastically. The instructional intervention that allowed students to bend rocks resulted in a statistically significant increase in the number of students who conceptualized rocks as well as other solids as elastic on the posttest.

The InTeGrate curriculum, "Living on the Edge: Building Resilient Societies on Active Plate Margins" (LOE), explores geologic hazards and related societal risks at plate boundaries. The curriculum incorporates research-based pedagogical practices and the use of geologic data for students to analyze and interpret. Materials were developed for broad use and have been implemented at 3 institutions in a range of undergraduate geoscience classroom settings. Here we present an analysis of student learning based on new data collected with a pre- and post-LOE curriculum instrument. Results indicate increased student learning in all types of classrooms examined. Learning gains occur in large classes (50-140 students) that spent the least amount of time on each unit (= 50 minutes), but students achieve even larger gains in small classes (< 15 students) that spent more time on curriculum (= 75 minutes per curricular unit). Learning gains occurred in all class types in activities that required application of information as well as in items that required only simple recall. Students' self-efficacy in their ability to accurately identify factors that determine hazards and risks at plate boundaries increased by at least 1 point on a 5-point scale following their participation in the curriculum. Most students agree (or strongly agree) that geologic monitoring is likely to be valuable to them and to society, which makes LOE activities relevant to them and correlates with their learning. Significant student learning also occurred in courses taught by an instructor who was not an LOE author, which supports the goal that InTeGrate materials can be widely used.

One of the most powerful pieces of knowledge that students can gain from the study of geology is an understanding of the immense scale of geologic time. In the author's introductory-level physical geology course at Northern Virginia Community College, they discuss geologic time about one-third of the way through the semester, after a thorough review of plate tectonics and the rock cycle. Because this subject is of foundational importance in all of his geology classes, he chose it as the focus for a Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT). Angelo and Cross (1993) present an extensive user's guide to many different CATs, but the key idea with any classroom assessment is to try to figure out if students are learning what they want them to learn. Based on the feedback an instructor gets from a CAT, he or she can decide whether to move on or re-examine a particular issue. In this article, the author offers his experiences in using CATs in his geology courses to gauge his students' grasp of course concepts.

Earth's easily seen surface features (mountains, volcanoes, and islands)--and the movement of the tectonic plates that lie below--offer hints about the processes that produced them. Inquiries in seismology, the study of earthquakes and other ground movements, can help students learn about Earth's geologic processes. This article describes an activity that uses "guided inquiry-based teaching," in which students form their own questions based on data, observations, images, and text so that they can formulate their own hypotheses. Students use classroom seismographs to detect, observe, and evaluate earthquakes and other ground motions and then create their own seismicity maps. With their own data, along with official seismicity maps, students arrive at evidence-based hypotheses about geologic processes.

The East Gobi Basin (EGB), which covers over 1.5 million square kilometers in southeastern Mongolia, is one of several basins in eastern China and Mongolia that was formed by extension and intracontinental rifting during the late Mesozoic. For reasons that are poorly understood, the continental lithosphere covering areas that are now known as eastern China and Mongolia underwent extension and thinning, which led to normal faulting and the creation of areas of subsidence--basis--within the continent. This study contributes to the amount of primary field data and quantitative analyses available on the Mesozoic sedimentary deposits within the EGB, focusing on the syn-rift rock units that were extensive in our particular field area. This is the first study to focus on the source rock of sandstones in the EGB. In addition, the data provide a basis for reconstructing the paleogeography and paleoenvironment of late Mesozoic rifting event. The conclusions of this study, when placed within the context of the geology of Asia, help readers to better understand rift processes and basin evolution in different parts of the world. (Contains 2 footnotes and 7 figures.)

There are ongoing calls for research that identifies students' conceptions about geographical phenomena. In response, this study investigates junior secondary school students' (N = 95) conceptions about plate tectonics. Student response data was generated from semi-structured interviews-about-instances and a two-tiered multiple-choice test instrument developed and validated by the researchers. There were three main findings: (1) students held many alternative conceptions about plate tectonics, most of which have not been reported in previous research; (2) students' alternative conceptions most commonly concerned the formation of landforms at tectonic plate boundaries; and (3) students were particularly confused about the cause of subduction at an oceanic-continental convergent plate boundary. The findings of this study can assist geography teachers and researchers to develop innovative pedagogies that consider students' pre-instructional alternative conceptions and promote conceptual change learning.