Despite Portugal's peripheral position in Europe, the Enlightenment successfully introduced Natural History into public education. The inclusion of geology at the University of Coimbra laid the foundation for its integration into secondary schools. Following the Liberal Revolution of 1820, the need to educate the Portuguese population grew,…

Rock and mineral labs are fundamental in traditional introductory geology courses. Successful implementation of these lab activities provides students opportunities to apply content knowledge. Inquiry-based instruction may be one way to increase student success. Prior examination of published STEM labs indicates that geology labs, particularly…

Natural category learning is important in science education. One strategy that has been empirically supported for enhancing category learning is testing, which facilitates not only the learning of previously studied information (backward testing effect) but also the learning of newly studied information (forward testing effect). However, in…

Cirques are often the most representative and numerous landforms in alpine glaciated watersheds. The readily mappable and measurable nature of cirques (especially aspects and floor elevations) may yield information about the climatic, geologic, and topographic conditions that created them. These ubiquitous landforms are the foci of an alpine…

Background: The importance of attitudes in learning is gaining relevance among researchers and teachers and yet little research has examined students' attitudes specifically in relation to geology. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine students' attitudes towards geology and with respect to other sciences, as well as to determine the key…

In this classroom activity, students read about the storage and movement of plant nutrients in the hot and rainy climate near the equator. Then they use that information to evaluate six statements about forestry and farming in the Amazon rainforest. The purpose is to show that the rules that govern the movement and storage of nutrient elements are…

This paper details how to effectively share three-dimensional geological models using data conversion between two mainstream mining software, Micromine and Surpac. It also discusses the impact of this conversion method on geological integrated exploration decision-making guidance. The current situation primarily manifests in the fact that both…

Background/Objective: The teaching and learning of geology in Morocco's secondary education system seems to face various challenges. This research aims to recognize and analyze these challenges so as to develop a deeper understanding of the problems faced in middle and high school classrooms. Materials/methods: To this end, a survey was conducted…

The mineral identification lab is typically the entry level college student's initial hands-on introduction to minerals. Our research focused on identifying alternative mineralogy conceptions that students bring to an introductory geology course and investigating the origins and nature of these conceptions. We identified a number of alternative…

This paper reports on a service-learning component introduced in an upper-level undergraduate geology course. Students identified rock types used by a local countertop manufacturing company and made fliers describing their mode of formation. Students then completed a final rock identification exam. To assess the effect of participating in the…

The geological sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (geo-STEM) have the capacity to investigate and address geological and environmental challenges. Many of these challenges (e.g., pollution, flooding, and slope failure) unjustly impact lower socio-economic communities in urban and rural settings where there is limited access to…

This article addresses the issue of ethnoknowledge, focusing precisely on ethnoeomorphology in geographic science studies. Reserved a bibliographic review on the subject and methodologically leads us to analyze the national curriculum parameters of Brazilian education around the subject. We consider the existence of popular and cultural knowledge…

Spatial reasoning ability is key to an individual's understanding of geology and geosciences more broadly. One reason why is because spatial ability allows individuals to use multiple external representations (MERs) to understand information that they cannot normally interact with directly, such as the Earth. This article presents results from two…

The Big Bend region of Trans-Pecos Texas preserves a rich record of Rio Grande rifting and Laramide-age contraction that provide intrigue to national and state park visitors and field trips for undergraduate geology students. Despite its well-exposed geologic record, the Big Bend region remains an underutilized natural laboratory for studying…

Experimentation is a contributing factor to the interest and meaningful learning of Science. In Geology and Earth Science, the effects of soil textures, settlements, and water-holding capacity are parameters for landslides in Barotac Viejo and other flooded areas. Landslides are triggered during heavy rainstorms, causing severe property damage and…