Grissom, A. N., Czajka, C. D., & McConnell, D. A. (2015). Revisions of Physical Geology Laboratory Courses to Increase the Level of Inquiry: Implications for Teaching and Learning. Journal of Geoscience Education, 63(4), 285鈥�296.
This paper describes a laboratory course revision process in introductory physical geology laboratory classes to increase the level of inquiry. The authors are from the department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, USA. A rubric (Buck et al., 2008) of inquiry levels (confirmation, structured, guided, open, authentic) was applied to classify activities. Classes containing a greater proportion of low-level inquiry activities were modified (e.g., reducing the number of samples students analyzed; replacing multiple fill-in-the-blank activities with fewer short-answer questions; having students first attempt to categorize a set of objects instead of following instructions; and exchanging directions about how to do something with challenges to achieve a goal). Teaching assistants were randomly assigned to teach either a traditional or revised version of the laboratory classes. Student performance was evaluated using multiple sources: (1) a pretest of conceptual knowledge (including questions from the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI; Libarkin and Anderson, 2005); (2) assessment exercises following each laboratory exercise; and (3) questions embedded in the mid-term and final exams. Learning gains were measured and compared between two rock and mineral laboratory classes (traditional n=153; revised n=207) and one geologic time class (traditional n=272; revised n=252). Activities with a modified inquiry level were found to positively influence student academic performance on post-laboratory assessments and related exam questions.