General College Curriculum Goals

Course Number: GC 1172 (Historical Geology)

Credits: 4 semester credits

Diversified Core: Physical Science with laboratory

Designated Theme: No

Writing Intensive: No

Completed by: Rick Uthe

Date completed: 5 Feb 99

A. Develop academic skills (i.e., processes involved with both acquiring and demonstrating knowledge) and successfully apply them to college-level coursework

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
1. Students will read college-level texts.	Students must acquire content from the textbook, including vocabulary, skills, procedures, applications	Students read relevant sections of the text before attending class on that topic. Students read relevant sections of the text when reviewing for tests. Students refer to relevant sections of the text when performing laboratory exercises.
2. Students will understand lecture material.	Students learn to take accurate and complete lecture notes. Students ask questions during lecture either to clarify, to bring in new ideas, or to ask about geologic events about which they learn outside class.	Students must take notes on lectures to do well on lecture exams. Teacher solicits questions from the class. Teacher asks questions of the class based on the lecture material to be included on exams.
3. Students will participate in classroom discussions.	Students exchange ideas, support arguments, document solutions, and ask questions orally when interacting with each other and the teacher.	Students have meaningful discussions with each other in laboratory when working in pairs or groups.
4. Students will write a variety of documents.	Students write clear solutions to questions on laboratory exams and on the lab project at the end of the class.	Teacher asks leading questions in the laboratory manual to review constantly material students should be learning. Teacher requires students to write answers to practice tests and tests-for-credit in laboratory.
5. Students will understand quantitative problems.	Students are introduced to quantitative methods in historical geology, such as calculating radiometric dates for rocks using half-lives of radioactive isotopes, then are asked to apply them.	Students use algebra to solve problems expressed in English.
6. Students will be able to use a computer.
7. Students are willing to receive information and respond to it.	Students are attentive in class and are encouraged to actively engage with the course content and the instructor. Students are encouraged to actively engage with the laboratory teaching assistant.	Classroom and laboratory teachers create an environment where students are encouraged to be actively engaged in the classroom and laboratory experiences.
8. Students develop values, organize them into systems, and apply those systems to their private and public lives.	Students show respect for the ideas of others. Students are willing to examine ideas that are contrary to their own beliefs.	Teachers create an environment that is comfortable for students of all abilities, interests, and backgrounds. Teacher intervenes when the personal or civil rights of students are attacked or threatened.
9. Other.

B. Build and use a foundation of general knowledge in the discipline

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
10. Appreciate the discipline as a valuable area of knowledge.	Students learn that historical geology enriches their lives on a day-to-day basis. (a) fossils are documents of evolution of life through time, and humans are the product of over 3500 million years of evolution. (b) rocks and fossils can be used to interpret ancient environments based on what is currently viewable on the earth's surface; these analyses emphasize synthesis of knowledge and interpretation of incomplete data. (c) maps are ways of presenting information in a visual way.	Teacher introduces concepts and applications in class, then discusses them with students. Students use this background to apply concepts in laboratory. Students learn to identify common earth materials, fossils, and rock structures in laboratory. In laboratory students learn how to visualize the three-dimensional shapes of rock units and how they are represented on geologic maps, then learn how to read geologic maps; they also realize how these maps can be used for practical purposes. In laboratory students learn to recognize 3-D rock structures on models and maps, then interpret what geological events led to their formation.
11. Identify and describe issues or problems in the discipline.	Students learn that geologic changes are inevitable and that they must learn how to cope with them, rather than try to "fix" them. Students realize that often conclusions to problems must be drawn based on incomplete information.	Teacher poses questions dealing with applications of geologic knowledge. Teacher prepares laboratory exercises to help students draw conclusions from data they collect.
12. Analyze and reflect upon issues or problems in the discipline.
13. Solve issues or problems in the discipline.
14. Think creatively.	Students learn different ways of combining information from which they can draw various conclusions.	Students apply basic geological principles to fairly complex geological problems.
15. Other.

C. Demonstrate greater awareness of and respect for individual, cultural, ethnic, and religious differences

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
16. Awareness and respect for diversity in terms of content.	Students realize that different cultures view geological phenomena and their causes differently.	Textbook provides historical context for some geological ideas.
17. Awareness and respect for diversity in terms of process.	Students realize that the application of geological concepts or geology to human paradigms are viewed differently by different cultures.	Teacher provides different viewpoints and ways of applying geological knowledge in different settings.
18. Other.

D. Develop attitudes and behaviors that are associated with success in college

Curricular Goals	Course Goals	Learning Activities
19. Class participation.	Students are encouraged to work together to study for exams and to complete laboratory exercises.	Students often work in groups of two or more to help one another learn concepts in laboratory. Students respond to discussion questions in lecture.
20. Use of learning resources.	Students use each other, the lecture teacher, and the laboratory teaching assistant for extra help.	Teacher encourages students to work together in laboratory and outside lecture class. Teacher encourages students to work individually with the instructors.
21. Task completion.	Students complete their laboratory exercises completely and on time.	Laboratory exercises are due at specific times. Grading penalties ensue if they are turned in late.
22. Appropriate interaction with peers, faculty, and staff on academic issues.	Students seek help from peers, teacher, and laboratory teaching assistant. Students interact in class thoughtfully and respectfully.	Teacher encourages students to work together outside of lecture and during laboratory. Teacher encourages students to work individually with instructor and laboratory teaching assistant.
23. Understand themselves better as learners.	Students learn to organize geological concepts and terminology so they can use them to interpret the natural landscape. Students determine problems they have learning laboratory concepts by taking practice exams before completing quizzes-for-credit.	Teacher provides daily outline in lecture to help students organize their geological knowledge. Teacher poses written questions during each lab exercise and a practice quiz at the end of each laboratory exercise. Answers are provided to help students realize where they have misunderstandings so they can review selected sections of each lab exercise before taking a quiz-for-credit.
24. Evaluate their own strengths, limitations, and interests.	Students examine their graded lecture and laboratory tests to determine if they are making consistent or systematic errors	Teacher encourages students to go over their work and look for patterns of errors. Teacher gives students regular and frequent feedback on performance on tests. All graded materials are returned to students with scores as a percentage listed. The standard grading scale for the course is listed in the syllabus so students know exactly how they are doing in the class throughout the school term.
25. Set attainable academic and career goals.	The course syllabus lists exactly what topics are included in the course, how many tests are given, what reading to do in the textbook and supplementary materials, how grades are determined, students expectations, and other stuff so that students can judge whether the course will fulfill their needs.	The teacher distributes the syllabus on the first day of class and spends about an hour discussing it in detail.
26. Time management.	Students are encouraged to arrange their schedules so that they can spend one or two hours a day working on the lecture part of the course outside class. In addition, they should have schedules such that they may attend laboratory at least three or four hours per week when the lab room is open. On the first day of class, students are informed about dates for tests and laboratory assignments and length of time needed to complete various parts of the course.	The teacher encourages students to seek him out at any time during the school term to discuss problems they are having successfully completing any parts of the course.
27. Test taking.	Students learn strategies for taking geology lecture and lab tests.	Students are encouraged to purchase copies of past lecture test questions available in the bookstore so they can observe how test questions are worded and as practice for the current term's exams. The laboratory manual includes practice lab tests at the end of each lab exercise as a review for the lab's quiz-for-credit. Both of the above also are designed to help reduce test anxiety for students, especially for those for whom science has been daunting in the past.
28. Library skills.
29. Condensing and summarizing.	Students learn how to take notes in a science class.	Teacher summarizes each lecture's major topics, then uses a series of overhead transparencies as examples of those topics and their applications in the real world.
30. Techniques for organizing knowledge.	Students learn the differences among definitions, properties, and procedures.	Teacher places a daily outline on an overhead projector which should help students organize their notes and for studying for lecture exams.
31. Familiarity with different learning strategies.	Students experience participation in large lecture classes and also working in small groups in a self-paced laboratory format.	Teacher encourages interaction and discussion in lecture by asking leading questions. Teacher encourages students to work in co-operative groups during laboratory.
32. Awareness of personal learning styles.	Students prepare for tests in various ways, depending on test format -- short essay, short answer, multiple choice.	Teacher uses different test formats, announced prior to testing, so that students can practice different modes of study.
33. Other.