Initial Publication Date: August 17, 2006

Assessing Geoscience Concepts, Skills, and Attitudes

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Geoscience Concepts

Geoscience Concepts Overview

A breakout group (Aaron Yoshinobu, Dan Zalles, Christine Massey, Erin Klauk, Mimi Fuhrman, LeeAnn Srogi, Dan Murray, Scott Linneman, Jenelle Hopkins, Kaatje Kraft, Bob Filson, Bruce Herbert) from the Observing and Assessing Student Learning Workshop drafted a Geoscience Concept Map (Acrobat (PDF) 46kB May18 05), to articulate an understanding within the geoscience community as to what common knowledge and skills are important for students to master by the end of a program (for majors) or an introductory geoscience course (for non-majors). An additional purpose for the map was to provide guidance for departments who are developing or designing curricula and courses.

Members of this group then reorganized and refined these concepts into the Geoscience Concept Crystal (GCC). The group envisions at least two important applications of the Geoscience Concept Crystal: 1. as a guide for curriculum and course development; and 2. the development and evaluation of assessments aligned with the map and therefore with the most important knowledge and skills in geoscience.

Publications and related materials:

Climate Change

Earthquakes

Mountain Building

Plate Tectonics

Time

Volcanoes

Water

Weathering

Geoscience Skills

Complex Dynamic Systems

  • Raia, F. Students Understanding of Complex Dynamic Systems (Acrobat (PDF) 381kB Apr18 06) This presentation describes research on how students address complex systems with a linear, mono-causal approach that is insufficient to understand complex dynamic systems.
  • Assessing links between climate, active deformation, & geomorphology (A two-part pre-curriculum assessment is utilized to evaluate intuitive and learned knowledge of concepts relating to tectonic geomorphology, climate studies, and the formation of active geologic structures.) Aaron Yoshinobu, Activity from the Student Learning Observing and Assessing Workshop.

Data Literacy

  • Designs for Assessing Foundational Data Literacy (Acrobat (PDF) 189kB May24 05) - Daniel Zalles, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International,wrote this essay describing assessments developed and piloted at SRI International that measure data literacy for the Observing and Assessing Workshop.

Maps and Field Work

Spatial Reasoning

Geoscience Attitudes

Other Geoscience Assessments:

  • See the abstracts from the Methods of Assessing Teaching and Learning in the Geosciences 2005 GSA Annual Meeting Presentations.
  • See the abstracts from the Methods of Assessing Teaching and Learning in the Geosciences (Posters) 2005 GSA Annual Meeting Poster Session I.
  • See the abstracts from the Methods of Assessing Teaching and Learning in the Geosciences (Posters) 2005 GSA Annual Meeting Poster Session II.