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Frank: I can respond to this part of your question "While this one does a pretty good job explaining the importance of fieldwork to geology education, it misses the mark in terms of the importance of fieldwork in constructing the body of knowledge" As you note, Rob Butler does a very nice job of conveying the general intuition that fieldwork is very important to geoscience learning. The research community has just started to explore this intuition via research into the cognitive and behavioral aspects of fieldwork in geoscience - a current and easy-to-read introduction to the cross- disciplinary literature on field work (and other experiential learning approaches) in earth and related sciences is: Maskall, J. & Stokes, A. (2008) Designing Effective Fieldwork for the Environmental and Natural Sciences. GEES Subject Centre Teaching and Learning Guide. 77p. ISBN: 978-1-84102-201-7. (http://www.gees.ac.uk/pubs/guides/eesguides.htm#GEESfwGuide ) Also out of the UK, but Maskall and Stokes do a wonderful job of incorporating literature from many different continents and disciplines. Take care Julie On Apr 30, 2009, at 6:38 AM, Frank Granshaw wrote: > Hello all... > > I am looking for three items of information that I am hoping some of > you may be able to help me with. The first of these is your > favorite quote regarding the importance of fieldwork in constructing > geoscience knowledge. One that I've found thus far comes from Rob > Butler's "Teaching Geoscience through Fieldwork" > > It is quite possible to acquire a considerable knowledge of Geology > by the mere intelligent perusal of text-books. Without having > engaged in practical work, one may even learn to read a geological > map, and come to understand in a general way the structure of the > region it portrays. Knowledge obtained in this fashion, however, is > necessarily superficial, and can never supply the place of personal > observation or study in the field. > James Geikie (1912) > > While this one does a pretty good job explaining the importance of > fieldwork to geology education, it misses the mark in terms of the > importance of fieldwork in constructing the body of knowledge. The > other two items I'm looking for are references regarding the nature > and frequency of fieldwork in K-16 classrooms and in teacher > education in geoscience. Most of what I'm finding here seems to be > for the UK, which is interesting, but not very useful when talking > to folks here in the states. > > Thanks for whatever info you might be able to send in my direction > Cheers > Frank G. > > Frank D. Granshaw > Earth Science Instructor > Portland Community College > Sylvania Campus > Portland, OR > 503-977-8236 > > > > Julie Libarkin Assistant Professor, Director - Geocognition Research Lab Dept. of Geological Sciences & Division of Science and Math Education Michigan State University 206 Natural Science East Lansing, MI 48824 517-355-8369