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Geographic Information Systems in an Undergraduate Structural Geology Course: A Pilot Project at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

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Book cover Teaching Methodologies in Structural Geology and Tectonics

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Abstract

This chapter describes a Fall 2016 semester Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN) pilot project in which undergraduate students use a Geographic Information System (GIS) to learn about structure surfaces, structural domains, cross sections, geologic maps, and cratonic structural geology and tectonics. While two self-selected undergraduates completed optional GIS exercises comprising approximately 25% of a semester-long structural geology course, ten self-selected undergraduates solved pencil-and-paper problems related to the same topics. Formative and summative assessment results demonstrate the potential of the GIS approach. Comparison of pilot project characteristics with characteristics of projects described in the literature suggests that education research on differentiated learning (e.g., Tomlinson in How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, 2001) and 2D and 3D visualization (e.g., Giorgis in J Geosci Ed 63:140–146, 2015) is relevant. The education literature suggests that an effectively executed project of this type will likely improve visual penetrative ability (Giorgis in J Geosci Ed 63:140–146, 2015) and spatial skills in general (e.g., Hall-Wallace and McAuliffe in J Geosci Ed 50:5–14, 2002; Lee and Bednarz in J Geog Higher Ed 33:183–198, 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Middle Tennessee State University, Davis Science Bldg, Room 217, MTSU Box 9, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132, USA

    Mark Abolins

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  1. Mark Abolins
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Correspondence to Mark Abolins .

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India

    Soumyajit Mukherjee

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Abolins, M. (2019). Geographic Information Systems in an Undergraduate Structural Geology Course: A Pilot Project at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In: Mukherjee, S. (eds) Teaching Methodologies in Structural Geology and Tectonics. Springer Geology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2781-0_7

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