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