Visible Geology (app.visiblegeology.com) is an interactive tool for building, modifying and exploring 3D geological structures. Features include adding, removing and adjusting Geologic Beds, Geologic Folds, Faults, Domes & Basins, Dikes, Topography, Cross-Sections, Boreholes, and Strike Decals.

Here in EOAS the tool has been used in several courses. Students in the general science course EOSC110, The Solid Earth: A Dynamic Planet use it as a homework exercise to build skills necessary for an awesome follow-up exercise run using worksheets and small groups in the classroom. It involves interpreting the large-scale geological map of the state of Wyoming in terms of geological structures and tectonics of the region.

Getting first year and non-science students to productively interpret ordinary maps is difficult, let alone geological maps! The Visible Geology homework exercise is the second in a three-part activity sequence. It involves self-directed completion of a worksheet followed by an online quiz to test the new geological map interpretation skills. The quiz includes 7 quantitative and qualitative feedback questions.

The success that students demonstrate at 3D thinking and geology map interpretation in the capstone activity is a testament to the benefits of practicing these expert-like skills using Visible Geology. It also reflects the pedagogic expertise of those who developed this 3-part sequence: Brett Gilley and Lucy Porritt.

• The VG homework exercise can be seen here vg-exercise-v5.
• The follow-up online questions posed (without answers) can be seen here vg-questionset-prn.

Further details including analyzed results and feedback from the first use of the VG exercise can be obtained from the F. Jones.

As of May 18th, documentation describing resources built and the tools we used are finally beginning to make sense. These three new pages are accessible from the “Resources” menu above, or as follows:

1. Building virtual geo-labs.
2. Examples of online activities.
3. Resources and tools.

Feel free to comment or request other information.

On June 9th Brett Gilley, with help from James Scoates, Diane Hanano, Anaïs Fourny, Elliott Skierszkan, Carol Cheyne, and Gregor Lucic, delivered a workshop titled “How Learning Works: Useful Techniques for Future Teachers.” In this interactive workshop about 80 participants got a grounding in research based teaching techniques. 

Slides and handouts from the presentation are below:
Techniques for Future Teachers Sacramento
Handouts for How People learn Jigsaw

At the session there were several excellent questions and not enough time to explore them properly. One in particular I’d like to revisit. How do develop these teaching skills at my campus? The answer is not to hire consultants. There are people at your institutions who have this expertise. You need to find them. A good place to start is your teaching and learning centre. There are also like minded people at every conference you visit. Finally there is lots of good information online. I’ve collected a few good sites below to help you start your search:

http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/cwsei/  – The main page for our project in Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science at UBC
http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/  – The main page for the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative – lots of useful resources.
http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/cwsei/eossei-times.html – A collection of two page newsletters on a variety of teaching topics.
https://blogs.ubc.ca/wpvc/ – Our new video page (includes some information on how to set up two stage exams)
Two Stage Exams – A collection of two stage exam resources