General College Curriculum Goals

Course Number: 1173 (Geology of National Parks)

Credits: 4 semester credits

Diversified Core: Physical Science with laboratory

Designated Theme: Environment theme

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 and course supplement, including vocabulary, skills, procedures, applications	Students read relevant sections of the text and supplement before attending class on that topic. Students read relevant sections of the text and supplement when preparing test answers. Students refer to relevant sections of the text and supplement when performing laboratory exercises.
2. Students will understand lecture material.	Students learn to take accurate and complete class notes. Students are asked questions during class either to clarify, to bring in new ideas, or to summarize geologic concepts in context..	Students must take notes during class to do well on exams and in-class assignments. Teacher asks written questions of the class based on class materials 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 when working in small groups throughout the school term.
4. Students will write a variety of documents.	Students write clear solutions to questions on tests and on in-class assignments.	Teacher asks leading questions in the class supplement to review constantly material students should be learning. Teacher requires students to write answers to all tests.
5. Students will understand quantitative problems.	Students are introduced to quantitative methods in geology, such as rates of continental drift and gradients of rivers, then are asked to apply them.	Students solve quantitative 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, themselves as active learners, and the instructor. Students are encouraged to actively engage with the teaching assistant.	Teachers create an environment where students are encouraged to be actively engaged in learning course material.
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 geology affects their lives on a day-to-day basis. (a) earth materials are used for creating most of modern society. (b) landscapes (and how humans interact with them) are created by geological processes.	Teacher introduces students to concepts and applications of geology, which they then discuss in small groups. Students use this background to apply geologic concepts using maps, three-dimensional models, and specimens of rocks and minerals. Students learn to identify common earth materials. Students learn how to visualize the landscape and how it is represented on topographic and geologic maps, then learn how to read these maps; they also realize how these maps can be used for practical purposes. Students learn to recognize landforms on models and maps, then interpret what geological events led to their formation.
11. Identify and describe issues or problems in the discipline.	Students recognize natural or human-induced problems with land use and possible ways they can be mitigated. Students learn that geologic changes are inevitable and that humans must learn how to cope with them, rather than try to "fix" them.	Student groups have a series of questions posed to them, which they discuss and answer as a group. They must refer to textbook, class supplement, dictionaries of geologic terms, other geology books available in the classroom, and current literature (periodicals) available in the classroom.
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 approaching geological problems.	Students apply basic geological principles to specific problems. Students study economic, political, and social ramifications of geologic phenomena, such as volcanism, earthquakes, and landslides.
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 societal concerns 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 must work together in small groups to complete in-class exercises. Students work in pairs during in-class lab tests.	Students often work in groups of three or more to help one another learn concepts. Students respond to questions by discussing answers and having to agree on answers by consensus.
20. Use of learning resources.	Students use each other, the lecture teacher, and the teaching assistant for extra help.	Teacher encourages students to work individually with the instructors.
21. Task completion.	Students complete their class exercises completely and on time.	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 teaching assistant. Students interact in class thoughtfully and respectfully.	Teacher encourages students to work individually with instructor and 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 geological concepts through feedback from peers and teachers.	Teacher provides daily outline plan for entire school term on first day of class to help students organize their geological knowledge. Teacher poses written questions during each class period.
24. Evaluate their own strengths, limitations, and interests.	Students examine their graded tests and in-class assignments to determine if they are making consistent or systematic errors	Teachers encourage students to go over their work and look for patterns of errors. Teachers give students regular and frequent feedback about performance on tests and in-class assignments. 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 two or three hours a day working on the course outside class. In addition, they should have schedules such that they may opt to utilize the classroom equipment at other times when the teaching assistant holds office hours in the classroom. On the first day of class, students are informed about dates for tests, in-class assignments, and laboratory assignments and length of time needed to complete various parts of the course.	The teachers encourage students to seek them 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.	Teacher designs class exercises to help students not only learn the material but also prepare for class exams. These exercises 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.	The daily in-class exercises, completed in a small-group setting, summarize each day's major topics. They require student groups to consult one another's members, the textbook, the class supplement, and materials available in the classroom to answer each day's assignments. These often include applications of the day's topics to what they can see in selected national parks. These are then related to the landscape regions in which these parks occur.
30. Techniques for organizing knowledge.	Students learn the differences among definitions, concepts, and procedures.	Teacher distributes a daily outline which should help students organize their notes and for studying for lecture exams.
31. Familiarity with different learning strategies.	Students experience the give-and-take and consensus-building that participation in small groups affords them.	Teacher encourages interaction and discussion by asking leading questions.
32. Awareness of personal learning styles.	Students prepare for tests in various ways, depending on test format -- essay, short essay, and short answer.	Teacher uses different test formats, announced prior to testing, so that students can practice different modes of study.
33. Other.