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The geoscience education research (GER) community has produced a collaborative research framework that summarizes guiding questions for future research to inform and improve undergraduate geoscienc...

Assessing the likelihood, intensity, style, and magnitude of eruptions is vital for societies living near active volcanoes worldwide. The intensity and magnitude of volcanic eruptions are controlled by multiple factors, but magma degassing upon decompression plays a critical role, causing growth of crystals that eventually lock up the magma. H2O–CO2 fluid composition modulate magma undercooling and crystallisation with H2O degassing increasing the liquidus temperature and CO2 degassing decreasing it. Using published experiments, we correlate magma undercooling with the crystal volume fraction and evaluate empirically the conditions that favour ascent of crystal-poor versus crystal-rich magmas. Magma crystallinity and undercooling are then examined for previous mafic and felsic eruptions with known erupted volumes, crystallinity of erupted tephra, and released excess SO2. The latter parameter is suggestive of excess fluid in the subvolcanic reservoir prior to eruption. We observe that H2O-rich systems with crystal volume fractions > 0.2 and undercooling > 100 °C tend to erupt ≤ 5 km3 of magma, whilst CO2-rich systems with crystal fractions < 0.2 and undercooling < 110 °C erupt > 10 km3 of magma. Our results suggest that the composition of magmatic fluids exercises an important control on eruptible volumes by suppressing or enhancing decompression crystallisation.

There is an ongoing need to prepare postsecondary educators to use not only 21st century assessment tools but also 21st andragogy/pedagogy that meets the needs of all 21st century learners. This chapter reviews those issues, reviews different aspects and approaches to assessment, and proposes an encompassing assessment framework for culturally responsive, authentic, reflective, ethical, formative, universal, and learner-focused (CAREFUL) assessment. The chapter contextualizes these approaches in faculty development (FDEV) to help “change gears” using data from a FDEV opportunity at a midsized, comprehensive university. The chapter provides several examples of CAREFUL assessment and a discussion of how FDEV can improve student learning and experiences.

We compared 236 geoscience instructors’ histories of professional development (PD) participation with classroom observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) that describe undergraduate classes as Student-Centered (score ≥ 50), Transitional (score 31–49) or Teacher-Centered (score ≤ 30). Instructors who attended PD (n = 111) have higher average RTOP scores (44.5 vs. 34.2) and are more frequently observed teaching Student-Centered classes (33% vs. 13%) than instructors with no PD (p

Following the culmination of an ambitious Earth science education initiative, scientists and educators met to prioritize ways in which education about Earth can foster sustainable societies.

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 occured in all class types in activities that required application of inf...

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are responsible for direct instruction of geoscience undergraduate students at an array of universities and have a major effect on the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of their students. GTAs benefit from in-department training in both beliefs and practices that align with the existing literature on teaching and learning in the discipline, and such training can have long-standing effects when GTAs transition into faculty roles. However, the most recent review, in 2003, revealed little literature examining outcomes of geoscience GTA training programs. Using the framework of the GER Strength of Evidence Pyramid, this article outlines the development and application of a rubric to allow the user to analyze the existing geoscience GTA training literature and provide example study designs at each level of strength. Extending back to 1980, we discovered a total of three peer-reviewed articles describing and empirically evaluating the effect of GTA training programs in the geosciences. Thus, this article also draws from other science disciplines to provide examples for the levels of the rubric not currently represented in the geoscience literature, providing a set of contextually similar models that future designers of geoscience GTA training might draw on to maximize their strength of evidence, given specific institutional and programmatic constraints. Furthermore, we describe ways in which the use of the rubric provides a framework for characterizing the GTA training literature, which revealed areas of research and characteristics of rigor needed for future work.

This study analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from classroom observations combined with instructor survey results to characterize the application of reformed teaching practices in undergraduate geoscience classes in the United States. Trained observers used the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to score 204 geoscience classes. Observed faculty represent a diversity of institutions, teaching rank, and years of experience. Classrooms observed included introductory and upper-level undergraduate courses that ranged in size from 6 to 275 students. Total RTOP scores do not correlate with class size, class level, institution type, instructor gender, instructor rank, or years of teaching experience. Classroom instruction was separated into three categories based on total RTOP scores: Teacher Centered (≤30), Transitional (31–49), or Student Centered (≥50). Statistical analyses of RTOP subscales and individual item scores are used to identify the instructional practices that are characteristic of each category. Instructor survey responses and qualitative classroom observations provide additional details about instructional practices common within each instructional category. Results of these analyses provide a coherent picture of instructional strategies used in geoscience classrooms. Instruction in the most Student Centered classrooms differs from that in Transitional and Teacher Centered classrooms in at least one of three ways. Student Centered classes are more likely to include (1) students engaged in class activities with one another; (2) activities in which instructors assess student learning and adjust lessons accordingly; and (3) opportunities for students to answer and pose questions that determine the focus of a lesson.

New research into the ways that students learn and apply their knowledge is changing teaching methods and undergraduate geoscience course content.

In response to calls for reformed teaching practices in college STEM labs and courses, and to support graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in their general teaching responsibilities, other STEM disciplines have recently increased their focus on GTA training and preparation. However, current practices in GTA training in the geosciences and geoscience faculty values regarding GTA teaching preparation have not been documented. In this study, survey results are used to compile the roles of GTAs in geoscience departments as well as the types and extent of training in which they participate with respect to teaching professional development (PD). Responses indicate that most GTA training depends on the instructor supervising the course (57%), with more formal GTA training coming from university or departmental requirements. Survey results suggest that some barriers to implementing GTA training are similar to those found for faculty teaching PD, including time and funding, along with unsupportive departmental culture. Responses also indicate that although faculty generally rate teaching PD as important for their GTAs, those values do not correlate strongly with the amount of training their department currently provides.

Natural geological, chronic and acute release of volcanic gases can have a dramatic impact on vegetative ecosystems and potential impact on regional agriculture and human health. This research incorporates a series of observations using leaf level gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence and remotely sensed reflectance measurements of vegetation experiencing chronic exposure to volcanic gas emissions; to develop techniques for monitoring the relative health of vegetation along the edge of an acute vegetative kill zone of a natural disaster and potential preeruption vegetation physiology. Experiments were conducted along an elevation gradient that corresponds to the SO2 gradient on vegetation along the south flank of Volcan Turrialba, Costa Rica. This study site is a natural environment with high volcanic degassing activity with significant SO2 emissions (n/d-0.281 ppm). Corresponding to an SO2 gradient, a substantial increase in CO2 concentration of (430-517 ppm) was identified. We further show the physiological interactions of SO2 and CO2 have on vegetation along the kill zone of this natural disaster can be assessed by examining the SO2/CO2 ratios. The physiological indices tested and relationships among measurements emphasized in this research will add to the assessment of the impact atmospheric volcanic gas emissions have on the physiology of surrounding vegetation as well as advance the capability of remotely sensed environmental stress in natural settings.

We present instructions for a series of quantitative experiments designed to help students build their intuitive knowledge of the rheological properties of fluids. The results of the experiments are quantified by students and are used to calculate fluid viscosities using Jeffreys Equation. During the course of the experiments, students test hypotheses about the effects of temperature, dissolved H2O, and the addition of bubbles or solid particles on fluid viscosity. They extend their experimental results to assess the role of viscosity in understanding volcanic hazards due to explosive eruptions and lava flows. Students can use a Dynamic Visual Equation (DVE) for Jeffreys Equation as either a pre-lab introduction to use of the equation or as a tool to calculate viscosities during the lab in place of a spreadsheet or calculator. Informal assessments of student attitudes suggest the experiments heightened student interest and learning.

The 1998 eruption of Volcan Cerro Azul in the Galapagos Islands produced two intra-caldera vents and a flank vent that erupted more than 1.0×108 m3 of lava. Lava compositions changed notably during the 5-week eruption, and contemporaneous eruptions in the caldera and on the flank produced different compositions. Lavas erupted from the flank vent range from 6.3 to 14.1% MgO, nearly the entire range of MgO contents previously reported from the volcano. On-site monitoring of eruptive activity is linked with petrogenetic processes such that geochemical variations are evaluated in a temporal context. Lavas from the 1998 eruption record two petrogenetic stages characterized by progressively more mafic lavas as the eruption proceeded. Crystal compositions, whole rock major and trace element compositions, and isotope ratios indicate that early lavas are the product of mixing between 1998 magma and remnant magma of the 1979 eruption. Intra-caldera lavas and later lavas have no 1979 signature, but were produced by the 1998 magma incorporating olivine and clinopyroxene xenocrysts. Thus, early magma petrogenesis is characterized by mixing with the 1979 magma, followed by the magma progressively entraining wehrlite cumulate mush.