"Palynology" is the study of fossil pollen and spores, and these tiny grains can provide fundamental information about past climates on Earth. Among their many unique and useful properties, pollen and spores are composed of some of the most chemically resistant organic compounds found in nature. They are also produced in vast quantities…

This paper organizes and analyses over 500 geoscience misconceptions relating to earthquakes, earth structure, geologic resources, glaciers, historical geology, karst (limestone terrains), plate tectonics, rivers, rocks and minerals, soils, volcanoes, and weathering and erosion. Journal and reliable web resources were reviewed to discover (1) the…

Even as service-learning has become more prevalent in higher education as a high-impact teaching methodology, barriers still exist to its implementation by some instructors. One concern is the perception of these types of activities infringing upon course content. This article outlines an example of an introductory service-learning project for an…

The content knowledge of teachers matters in the classroom. It influences their ability to deliver lessons, select activities for their students and assess students' learning. This study investigates the experiences of biology pre-service teachers who were required to teach physics and earth science concepts during their pre-service teaching. Such…

Nationally, "at risk" students make up to 30% of U.S. students in public schools. Many "at risk" students have poor attendance, are disengaged from the learning environment and have low academic achievement. Educational failure occurs when students do not complete the required courses and as a result do not receive a high…

America is blessed with two river systems that feed and nourish the country by their periodic flooding. One mighty river is "individualism" (the entrepreneurial drive to advance and make a difference). The other river is "community" (wherein communal interests strengthen the whole community over the parts). Monitoring and regulating these two…

The restructuring of Hungarian higher education according to European expectations has resulted in fundamental changes. Due to the intensifying market and the decreasing number of applicants, institutions are interested in ensuring the necessary number of students. The objective of the study is to identify those schools where the greatest interest…

Background: Barriers to reforming traditional lecture-based undergraduate STEM classes are numerous and include time constraints, lack of training, and instructor's beliefs about teaching and learning. This case study documents the use of a situated instructional coaching process as a method of faculty professional development. In this model, a…

Studies have proven that merging hands-on and online learning can result in an enhanced experience in learning science. In contrast to traditional online learning, multiple in-classroom activities may be involved in an augmented-reality (AR)-embedded e-learning process and thus could reduce the effects of individual differences. Using a…

Geospatially enabled learning technologies may enhance Earth science learning by placing emphasis on geographic space, visualization, scale, representation, and geospatial thinking and reasoning (GTR) skills. This study examined if and how a series of Web geographic information system investigations that the researchers developed improved urban…

Geoscience education researchers are working to understand how we can most effectively increase our overall geoscience workforce capacity. The present study employed an inductive approach to explore the critical experiences that led to the persistence of successful field geologists in this STEM field. Interviews with 29 professional field…

In New York State (NYS), Earth science teachers use the "National Science Education Standards" (NSES), the NYS "Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science and Technology" (NYS Standards), and the "Physical Setting/Earth Science Core Curriculum" (Core Curriculum) to create local curricula and daily lessons. In this…

Science education trends promote student engagement in authentic knowledge in practice to tackle personally consequential problems. This study explored how partnering scientists and students on a social media platform supported students' development of disciplinary practice knowledge through practice-based learning with experts during two pilot…

Recognizing the need to attract more students, especially those from underrepresented groups, a team of college faculty and experienced New York City Department of Education (DOE) Earth Science Teachers redesigned the two foundational Earth and Environmental Science courses required for all teacher and science major students in the Department of…

The current study seeks to introduce a new pedagogical design for geo-informatics courses using an e-training support system. Laurillard's conversational approach based on conceptual representation for both instructor and learner was used to form the framework. As the current study specifically interested in training as a special form for…