From Fall 2008 to Spring 2010, I served as a lab instructor for nine sections of MEA 110: Physical Geology lab, including an Honors section in Fall 2009. A description of the student population is provided below by section. The lab is separate from the lecture course, and is required for several majors in addition to our own Geology majors (e.g. Natural Resources, Science Education). It can also count as a science lab elective, so student backgrounds are diverse. MEA 110 applies the scientific method to the study of plate tectonics, common minerals and rocks, weathering, relative and absolute dating, geologic structures, earthquakes, streams, groundwater and geological maps. Field trips and exercises are a required part of this course.
From Fall 2008 to Summer I 2009, students were required to purchase a lab manual with weekly exercises. These counted for 50% of their final grade. Assessment of the remaining 50% was left up to the discretion of the Teaching Assistant (TA). To see a representative syllabus from my sections for that time period, click here. From Fall 2009 on, the structure of the labs and assessments were standardized by a new faculty supervisor, Dr. McConnell. In addition to the labs themselves, assessments now include weekly online mastery quizzes, an individual post-class assignment, a midterm and final. Weekly meetings with the faculty supervisor have been held during each semester, but became much better attended during the updated version of the course. A syllabus from the updated course can be found here.
In Fall 2010, I became the first Physical Geology lab coordinator and began leading the weekly meetings, updating the lab materials and the 26+ section websites, and providing “suggestion sheets” to all of the TAs with strategies to promote active learning environments. These include what needs to be done before and after class, current topics related to the lab, and questions to engage and challenge students. Because these documents have information unavailable to students, they are not posted here. Please contact me if you are an educator who'd like to see more. I anticipate handing the role of lab coordinator over to another outstanding graduate student TA in Fall 2011.
I guest lectured for MEA 101: Physical Geology for the following topics:
Deformation and Metamorphism (February 18th, 2010)
Groundwater (November 19th, 2010)
Coastlines (March 31st, 2011)