At our community college, I use the AGI-NAGT lab manual for our Physical Geology course.  I hand out my own labs which utilize the lab manual but often ask different questions (or the same questions in different ways) based on our own collection of minerals, rocks, and maps as well as our location.  I also incorporate other activities (e.g. local stream gauge data and flood frequency analysis) and a couple of my labs are taught in the field on the outcrop.

_________________________________________________

Steven H. Schimmrich, Associate Professor & Department Chair
Math, Sciences, Engineering, & Technology, Burroughs 105-G
SUNY Ulster County Community College, 491 Cottekill Road
Stone Ridge, NY 12484      845-687-7683; FAX 845-687-5083

http://people.sunyulster.edu/schimmrs

Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance

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

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