Student-staff partnership, understood as the situation when students and staff work together on a project, contributing equally but in potentially different ways, is an innovation that is gaining traction on university campuses worldwide. This case study details my first foray into the partnership arena. I invited undergraduate students from the…

This article responds to Olof Franck's vision of a less didactic and more creative approach to Education for Sustainable Development. We consider how a multidisciplinary applied theatre project, bringing together Earth Sciences, Ancient Rock Art, storytelling, digital technology, and drama education knowledges and techniques can foster a more…

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to develop employability-enhancing transferable skills as well as technical, discipline-specific skills and disciplinary knowledge. However, the extent to which staff purposely plan transferable skills outcomes of field courses, and, therefore, whether they are communicated to students is unknown. We…

Rocks and fossils appear in the National Curriculum of England science programmes of study for children in year 3 (ages 7-8). A frequently asked question is "How do you make the classification of rocks engaging?" In response to this request from a school, a set of interactive activities was designed and organised by tutors and students…

A new, interdisciplinary high school geoarchaeology curriculum unit, titled "Living with Volcanoes," was created and tested in two pilot lessons with 30 high school students total studying geography and classical civilization in northern England. Students were highly engaged during the curriculum unit and showed positive learning gains…

A free internet resource called "Sub-Surf Rocks"! was launched in 2010. Its aim is to use seismic data obtained by the oil industry for enhancing the teaching of structural and economic geology at A-level (ages 16-18) in the UK. Seismic data gives a unique insight into the sub-surface and the many high-quality images coupled with…

A survey of the Earth science content of science textbooks found a wide range of misconceptions. These are discussed in this article with reference to the published literature on Earth science misconceptions. Most misconceptions occurred in the "sedimentary rocks and processes" and "Earth's structure and plate tectonics"…

Field note-taking skills are fundamental in the geosciences but are rarely explicitly taught. In a mixed-method study of an introductory geothermal field lesson, we characterize the content and perceptions of students' note-taking skills to derive the strategies that students use in the field. We collected several data sets: observations of the…

Lead is a good example of a metal that was used for many things over centuries--in water pipes, paints, on roofs, and in leaded petrol, for example--but was superseded as scientists discovered "new" metals, and because its toxicity became a problem. It was originally an important element in pewter utensils, alloyed with tin; it made the…

This paper explores conceptions of the purpose of fieldwork held by undergraduates and academic staff in the disciplines of geography and geology. Phenomenographic analysis of written data reveals six qualitatively distinct conceptions broadly classified as "fragmented" and "cohesive". While considerable commonality in…

This article is part of the author's current research into science teachers' perspectives on the theory of evolution and its teaching in the classroom. Anti-evolutionary views have recently become very prominent in the context of science education, with almost one third of science teachers in the United Kingdom agreeing that creationism should be…

This paper considers opportunities for teachers to use an argumentation pedagogy in order to develop students' geoscience thinking skills. Educational argumentation principles and procedures are outlined. Argumentation can foster both student and teacher motivation and interest in the context of accessible and well-structured geoscience content.…

Studies (n=51) inservice school teachers with regard to their orientations toward geoscience phenomena in general and deep time in particular. Aims to identify the nature of idiosyncratic conceptions of deep time and propose a curricular Deep Time Framework for teacher education. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/YDS)

Describes the background of schemes to rationalize earth science departments in the United Kingdom. Discusses the rationale of these schemes and the controversy they have caused in the academic community. (CW)

Explores the prior knowledge children from Key Stage 2 (7 to 11 years) at one school in England had of rock classification and how they developed a more scientific understanding using strategies shown by research to support understanding. Findings for 60 Year 5 and 6 students show the importance of providing students with a conceptual model and…