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Another individual response-  I use the same AGI-NAGT lab manual with my
honors geology high school students, As I use less and less of it, with
more and more materials being available over the web, I suspect that I
will eventually give up on what I think is the best general physical
geology lab manual. 

Wendy Van Norden

Harvard-Westlake School

 

From: GEOEDUCATION RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Maureen Leshendok
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 10:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: question about laboratory manual usage

 

Maggie,

 

This is not a study, but purely my individual response.  I use the
Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology from Prentice Hall, edited by
Richard M. Busch, associated with NAGT and AGI, for a summer beginning
lab course in Geology at the University of Nevada Reno.  While there are
many excellent web resources and even an accompanying CD, I teach a
summer course that is filled with non-majors, so the lab manual is
concise, convenient, and most important, it's in hand when the students
come to class.  With only 10 class meetings, I use most but not all of
the manual.  I would love to construct a course with web resources,
given the right environment.

 

--Maureen Leshendok

 

Maureen Leshendok 

Reference Department

Elizabeth Sturm Library

Truckee Meadows Community College

775-674-7602


>>> Maggie Benoit <[log in to unmask]> 4/27/2009 7:52 AM >>>
Hi,

I am trying to get an idea what role the commercially available lab
manuals play in driving undergraduate instruction.  I've been poking
around on different databases, but I can't find any literature on this.
Some of the information I'm looking for involves: What % of institutions
rely on these manuals for their introductory geology course laboratory
instruction, and are there any studies regarding the efficacy of these
manuals? Does anyone know of any papers that would be helpful? 

  I'm planning on calling publishers and asking them for some statistics
(who knows if they are believable or not), but I was hoping there might
be some scholarly work on this topic.

  I appreciate any insight that you would have on this...  I'm kind of
new to the geoscience education realm.  

   Thank you for any help you can offer,
     Maggie Benoit

-- 
Margaret H. Benoit
Assistant Professor of Physics
The College of New Jersey
Science Complex P-113
Ewing, NJ 08628
609-771-2237