Improving Critical Thinking on Geoscience Field Trips
Faculty members: Mark Boryta, Terri Long, Becca Walker (rwalker@mtsac.edu)
Student co-inquirers: Ryan Fox, Tiffany Garbiso, Jon Hale, Amos Jo, Larissa Kupferschmidt, Ronnie Neihart, Diego Raya
Faculty biographies:
Becca Walker (principal investigator)
Becca has been a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and Astronomy at Mt. SAC since 2006. She specializes in geoscience education for introductory college students and has developed and implemented field trips for Earth science, oceanography, natural disasters, physical geology, and field studies courses at Mt. SAC that emphasize critical thinking and self-directed learning. In 2010, she was a speaker and participant at two SERC workshops for geoscience faculty: Teaching Geoscience in the Field in the 21st Century and The Role of 2-Year Colleges in Geoscience Education. She has also been involved in K-12 and public geoscience education as a Teachers on the Leading Edge community college team leader, Geoscientist-in-Park at Mt. Rainier National Park, professor in the Early College High School program, and co-facilitator of a National Association of Geoscience Teachers teacher workshop on earthquakes.
Terri Long, Ed.D.
Terri currently serves as the Dean of Instructional Services at Mt. San Antonio College. She began teaching in the Earth Science Department at Mt. SAC in 1989 and has served as department chair, Academic Senate President, and Faculty Association President. She and her colleague Professor Becca Walker have developed two geologic field studies classes that have been much of the focus of this study. She continues to teach part-time in the department and hopes to be able to continue to explore and identify strategies that result in improved critical thinking for students both in the classroom and in the field.
Mark Boryta
