Teaching Stratigraphy By POGIL: Successes And Challenges

Teaching Stratigraphy By POGIL: Successes And Challenges Julie K. Bartley Department of Geosciences University of West Georgia

“Stratigraphy is the triumph of terminology over common sense.” -PD Krynine

Stratigraphy at UWG • Sedimentology & Stratigraphy separated into two courses in 2003 • Sedimentary Petrology & Sedimentology • Stratigraphy & Geochronology

Stratigraphy & Geochronology • Theme: Rocks and Time • Topics include • Facies distribution and relationship to sea level • Basic stratigraphic principles • Cycles and sequence stratigraphy • Relative time techniques (chemo-, magneto-, bio-) • Event stratigraphy • Radiometric dating • Chronostratigraphy and basin analysis

Challenges • Diverse audience • Sophomores, juniors, seniors • Geology and Earth Science • Half have had sedimentology/sed petrology • 25% have had only physical and historical geology

Challenges • Diverse material contained in the course • No single textbook covers breadth of material • Credit hour structure • 3-credit course, with lab • 2 hours/week of “lecture” • 2 hours/week of “lab”

Traditional Presentation • Two hours of lecture • Principles and terminology • Two hours of lab • Applications (mostly on paper) • Facies diagrams, stratigraphic sections, correlation hypotheses, Wheeler diagrams, computations • Field trip – Warrior Basin of Alabama

Advantages – Traditional Presentation • Large volume of material • “Efficient” use of lecture time • Could review material rapidly to bring diverse students up to “speed” on basic concepts • Good performance on terminology-based exam questions • Lab allowed for application of concepts

Shortfalls– Traditional Presentation • Terminology and application disconnected • Advanced students bored in lectures • Lack of incentive to read textbook • Poor performance on conceptual exam questions • Poor performance on computational exam questions (geochronology)

Learning Outcomes • Students struggle with terminology • Typically articulate understanding poorly in labs and on exams. • End-of-term evaluations: • Lecture and lab were not well articulated, • Terminology was difficult to understand, • Despite this, the course and instructor were fairly highly rated (4.2/5).

Reexamination of Course Goals • “Talk” stratigraphy or “Do” stratigraphy? • “Do” stratigraphy • Focus on process, rather than terminology • Critical evaluation of chronostratigraphic hypotheses • Higher-order thinking • Ability to understand and apply concepts in the field

How I learned stratigraphy…

POGIL • Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning • Developed by chemists to improve critical thinking and problem solving in science courses. • Instructor is a facilitator; students explore important processes • Students construct their own understanding • Similar to the ways we usually conduct field trips, but it is not typically practiced in the classroom.

Implementation of POGIL • Course reorganization • Focus on fundamental stratigraphic processes • Guided inquiry • No lectures • Students receive a set of prompts relevant to a topic • Construct understanding from individual and collective pre-existing knowledge. • Understand process first; terminology introduced after mastery of the conceptual framework

Class Structure • Tuesday morning “lecture” • Students receive a page of open-ended prompts • Tuesday afternoon “lab” • 2-hour exercise plus homework to develop more thorough understanding • Thursday morning “lecture” • Wrap-up of topic explored on Tuesday; introduction of appropriate terminology

Successes • Greater mastery of stratigraphic concepts • Improved performance on first exam, which covers basic stratigraphic principles and concepts. • Students were more engaged • Attended class more regularly • Participated in hypothesis construction in lab • High level of engagement on the required field trip.

Student Feedback • Midterm and end-of-term assessment • “The hands on approach worked very well for me” • I appreciate being able to frequently ask questions, it makes class more interesting to me • “[POGIL] has taken some getting used to; however, I feel the material is more helpful and logical when used rather than recited.”

Student Feedback • “When studying transgressions and regressions, the material was presented in a way which made me first try to figure it out for myself, then after some frustration and a little guidance, it clicked! I got it. I had much more invested in the topic than simply reading a book and memorizing some silly definitions, I had grasped the concept and the uses of the concept.”

Student Feedback • “I think our exam was easier because of the way the course was taught. Had it been all lecture, no discussion or class collaboration, I absolutely feel our test would have been harder.” • “I love that I am gaining knowledge not only from the professor, but from my peers as well. Its a great feeling that we all know that we can work together to find an answer…. I love the environment and look forward to coming to class. I enjoy my classmates.”

Challenges • Students displayed decreased confidence in their mastery of material • Despite high achievement • Performed slightly worse on quantitative elements • Students accustomed to structured instruction in problem-solving • Assigned reading participation remained low • Textbook inadequate for the methodology • Primary literature too sophisticated

Student Feedback • “I feel that I learn the material in a general sense; however when it get to the tests, I only make a C even though I write everything I know.” • “I think I (personally) would have learned better had I been more assertive in class (Lab especially).”

Take-home messages • Guided inquiry requires a high degree of flexibility • Labor-intensive compared to a traditional lecture format • “Lectureless” doesn’t mean low-preparation time • Students take responsibility for learning • Overall, POGIL is effective in teaching stratigraphy

The subject of stratigraphy once provided uninspired teachers with unrivaled opportunities to bore their students to distraction. -AD Miall

Teaching Stratigraphy By POGIL: Successes And Challenges