Entering this class, I have the most basic knowledge of geology: the Earth is round, rocks have layers, rocks erode, and coal can turn into diamonds. Growing up I moved around a lot, so I have seen some places and been in many different types of environments. I always have liked taking pictures of cool river rocks or caves, and such, but I can't identify a single rock. I am interested in learning more about our Earth and all of its different elements. And also, by knowing how the Earth was formed and how its elements are affected with the non-stop damage we cause to the Earth with different types of pollution, overpopulation, deforestation, and fossil consumption.
For the first student learning outcome for this class, "Identify the dynamics of the Earth's interior", I feel like it will be the easiest for me since it sounds like the basic breakdown of the Earth’s interior which I have some familiarity with. For the last four student learning incomes, I am nervous but excited to learn all the different minerals, their geological processes, how to date different rocks, and their different locations. I want to focus the most on the student learning outcome, "Identifying the rock-forming minerals by their physical properties" because I feel like this is knowledge that I could use in my everyday life, to be able to identify different rocks and minerals just by looking at them and their characteristics. It could come in handy while hiking or exploring!
To be on time and prepared for class with a charged computer and notebook for notes.
To be caught up with the material provided for that day's class while also being prepared for the quiz passed out at the beginning of the class based on the lectures on canvas.
To not let the non-grading distract me from continuing to learn in any way.
Making sure I have a full meal before and after every class to keep healthy.
If this class were to be graded my realistic goal would be able to keep up with all the lectures on canvas, not only do I procrastinate on them, but I also tend to lose attention while watching the lecture videos unless I'm taking constant notes.
Looking back at these, to be completely honest I have let other classes, work, and sleep get in the way of watching some of the lectures before the quiz is taken. But I have used my method of paying attention in class and going back after class and finding the answers to the quiz in the lecture after to be very helpful. Another thing I have struggled with is having breakfast before class due to oversleeping and being lazy.
I plan on trying to do mental maps with our main topics because they help me a lot because of the way they are formatted and laid out. Instead of having all my information clustered into one page or more.
In order to find the answers to the quizzes, I plan on watching the lectures whether it is before or after the quiz. And also by paying close attention in class and taking notes on the quiz itself about the topics that are mentioned in the quiz.
I plan on trying to follow the class schedule calendar provided on canvas, in order to be ahead on the assignments instead of rushing to finish them or bringing them incompleted.
When I look back at the methods I suggested, I can see I am not following them all due to the video lectures I missed before the actual quiz, but I have stuck to at least watching the videos after if I miss them and going back to find the answers. This method has helped me a lot in understanding the topics in the best way possible. I missed one day of class but made sure to watch the lecture provided for that day and caught myself up. I personally feel like I have been pretty focused compared to other classes, I usually just learn because I have to but Geology has turned out to be way more interesting than I thought. I spend roughly around 10-12 hours on this class trying to keep up with all the material provided and also by studying my mineral and igneous rocks. This class is the first college class that I feel like I'm actually learning and retaining the information. What really convinces me that my progress is enough, is my knowledge of the minerals and being able to remember the drawing representations of all the boundaries. Learning about the minerals and being able to identify them really has helped me learn to identify different gemstones in the jewelry I wear on a daily basis. After evaluating my focus and efforts put into this class I have noticed that I need try harder to watch all the video lectures before the quiz in order to minimize the time I spend going over the quizzes and to get better scores on them. In order to achieve that I am planning on waking up an extra hour earlier if I have not watched the video before class that day.
One of my weaknesses is not being able to sound professional while explaining the properties and textures of the minerals and rocks. I have used the help of the packet that was given to us in class in order to identify the minerals and rocks but still lack professionalism.
My strongest area in this class is the identification of all the minerals required. I have studied them every week and also taken the practice quiz on them once a week. Something that really helped me learn even though it was never really used as an assignment, was the mineral key. It was doing it multiple times and really dissecting all the textures, colors, and characteristics that each mineral contains, that really helped the topic stick.
During this semester I feel like I have been doing very well in actually retaining information and being able to use it outside of the class. I have been to every class, except one, and on time. Finding most of the material easy to learn due to the activities and lectures provided by the teacher. I also enjoy some of the things that have been taught throughout the semester like where diamonds come from, how opals are found, and how the plate tectonics have changed our Earth over the years. Even though I haven't completely followed my goals and methods for this semester I feel like I have shown clear progress in the class, starting from not being able to identify a single rock or mineral, to knowing 26 minerals and 11 igneous rocks.