Involving students in classroom discussions

Christina BelangerSouth Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Goals for Discussions in Earth History• Practice posing hypotheses• Propose new methods to test hypotheses• Weigh alternative hypotheses• Critically evaluate the ideas of others• Understand how and why ideas change in science• Make connections between subdisciplines

My students…

• Majority are geology majors; all are science majors• Took physical geology a year ago• Accustomed to traditional lectures• Initially uncomfortable “arguing” with the prof• Initially uncomfortable expressing ideas among peers

• Courses are on the semester system (~15 weeks)• < 35 students per class

Doing things gradually in Earth History

Focus on methods in earth history, assumptions of methods and interpretation of results

Introduce hypothesis testing in observational sciences via discussion

Group activities with data

At-home readings from literature reviews and primary science articles with discussion questions

Focus on alternative hypotheses for major events

Focus on links between the tectonics, climate, and biology

Essay linking geologic history to geological resources

How do we know things? “March Through Time”

Assignments and Course Content

Doing things gradually in Earth History

“Thinks out loud” to demonstrate thinking through alternative hypotheses

Has students discuss and share answers to lab activities then report to the larger class.

Learning by example Developing confidence Students can create knowledge

Instructor practices during lectures/discussions

Presents “crazy” hypotheses and clearly flawed interpretations, then asks for rebuttals.

Gives examples of how our interpretations of earth history have changed.

Maintains a casual atmosphere where lecture interruptions are welcome and debate is encouraged even if it means some content does not get covered.

Asks students to evaluate hypotheses presented in the literature

Asks students to develop new hypotheses and/or new tests for hypotheses

Doing things gradually in Earth History

Interpret geo-historical data in real and imagined situations.

Basic Skills Create without penalty Expected to create

Assessment of Student Progress Essay-style, complete thoughts required

Explain processes, cause-effect relationships

Describe presented hypotheses

Bonus question announced prior to exam

Bonus question: (A) There are many unanswered questions in earth history, write one here. (B) Pose two hypothetical answers to this question. (C) Discuss how you would

test these two hypotheses. Be specific about what the results would mean.

Connect processes in different earth systems and explain their interactions

Bonus question now mandatory

The lazy lecture (AKA, I forgot I was teaching)(When it goes well, students debate with each other and I completely loose control of the classroom. Works best in the later third of the course.)

This is a figure showing X.

What patterns to do you see?

Why might cause these patterns?

What data would you need to support that hypothesis?

Some other people think it’s due to Y. What do you think of that?

How would the pattern change if Z happened?

Diversity of Marine Bivalves

The lazy syllabus (AKA, I ran out of topics)

Full class period assignment WITHOUT the instructor present:

What do you want to ask the earth? As a class, submit 5 research questions, phrased a testable hypotheses, on a paper with all participant signatures.

Extra Credit Assignment:

Locate and summarize peer-reviewed papers that address the questions.

Each question becomes a full class period discussion in the last weeks of the course.

Some Student Responses

• “I really like all the in class critical thinking. It has really helped me being able to formulate research hypotheses.”• “The lab-style homework

was valuable due to the level of critical thinking required.”

• “Material felt disorganized.”

• “I would prefer a more organized style of teaching. I was not able to follow the lectures very well.”

Positive and Negative