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developing students’ systems-thinking   opportunity to engage in data-rich,
          skills in introductory courses (Gilbert et   problem-solving activities (Egger et al.,   5  6
          al., 2019; Iverson et al., 2019).  2019). These and other resources can sup-  4              1
                                             plement or replace textbooks to emphasize
          Human Interactions with Earth      human interactions with Earth and build
            Fully one-third of the PEs in the NGSS   relevance and motivation for students.   Intro
          address human interactions with Earth                                            geoscience
          (Table S1 [see footnote 1]). Even at the   Using Practices to Engage with Data  3
          middle school level, students should be   The eight science and engineering prac-
          able to “construct an argument supported   tices of the Framework (NRC, 2012b)
          by evidence for how increases in human   make components of authentic scientific            2
          population and per-capita consumption of   investigation explicit (Table S2). The prac-
          natural resources impact Earth’s systems”   tices move instruction and learning away
          (NGSS Lead States, 2013). In contrast,   from the unrealistic conception of the lin-     1
          almost none of the top fifteen topics listed   ear scientific method and toward a more   6
          on syllabi in Earth science, geology, or   authentic view of what scientists and engi-
          oceans highlight connections to humans   neers really do (e.g., Schwartz et al., 2017).         2
          (Table 2): only resources (in geology) and   While the PEs focus on using the prac-
          ocean pollution (in oceans). Most instruc-  tices to investigate phenomena, the learn-  High
          tors in geology and Earth science instead   ing outcomes in introductory courses   5  school
          spend as much as a third of course time   emphasize content knowledge (Fig. 4). The
          covering rocks and minerals, topics that   large number of topics and learning out-            3
          are conspicuously absent from the PEs   comes addressed in courses may contrib-
          (Table S1 [see footnote 1]). Textbooks   ute to the paucity of higher-level learning   4
          appear to be one of the primary determi-  outcomes, but engaging in high-level
          nants of topics, which may mean that,    activities (while covering fewer topics) has   Bloom’s Levels: Action verbs
          in order to address topics like hazard mit-  been shown to increase learning gains for   1 Remembering: Describe, identify,
                                                                                  recognize, define, know
          igation and managing natural resources,   students (e.g., Freeman et al., 2014; NRC,   2 Understanding: Explain, under-
          instructors need to change or supplement   2015) and allows for more student-driven   stand, interpret, discuss, demonstrate,
          their required text.               questioning that, like relevance, can moti-  explore, classify, distinguish, illustrate
            There are other reasons to emphasize   vate further investigation. In particular,   3 Applying: Use, apply, predict,
          connections to individuals and societies   instructors mostly do not engage students   calculate, solve, utilize
          in introductory courses. Investigating   in developing and using models (SEP 2,   4 Analyzing: Analyze, differentiate,
                                                                                  compare, contrast, model, investigate
          phenomena that connect to their lives and   Fig. 3). Most make very limited use of   5 Evaluating: Evaluate, test
          communities can provide students with   mathematical and computational thinking   6 Creating: Create, synthesize,
          motivation for learning (e.g., Glynn et al.,   (SEP 5)—especially statistics (Fig. 2)—  construct, design
          2009). But less than half of instructors   and obtaining, evaluating, and communi-
          engage students in investigations that   cating information (SEP 8), since a minor-  Figure 4. Frequency of use of action verbs at
          emphasize connections to societal issues   ity ask students to read the primary   different Bloom’s levels in learning outcomes
          and disproportionately fewer geology   literature or formally present (Fig. 2). In   and performance expectations. Note that
                                                                                more than one action verb may be included per
          instructors do so (Fig. 3).        analyzing and interpreting data (SEP 4),   learning outcome.
            Currently, human interactions with   nearly all instructors ask students to distin-
          Earth are not emphasized in most intro-  guish observations from interpretations
          ductory geoscience courses, leaving stu-  (Fig. 2), but far fewer ask them to collect
          dents ill-prepared to make personal, pro-  their own data and analyze them with all
          fessional, and societal decisions about   of the uncertainty and ambiguity inherent
                                                                                 TABLE 3. FINAL GRADE COMPONENTS
          development, resource use, and many   in that process (Fig. 3).       Component    No. (%) of   Average
          other issues. This is unfortunate for   The emphasis on exams as a major com-       syllabi   contribution
          teachers, but the lack of connections to   ponent of final grades (Table 3) suggests   Exams   126 (92%)   41.2%
          society (and thus perceived irrelevance    that assessment is still heavily weighted   Final exam   86 (63%)   22.7%
          of the discipline) can negatively impact   toward content knowledge rather than   Lab   76 (56%)   27.9%
          recruitment and retention of students into   engagement in the practices. While it is   Homework   66 (49%)   19.8%
                                                                                Quizzes
                                                                                                        16.0%
                                                                                             65 (48%)
          the geosciences (e.g., Huntoon and Lane,   possible to design exams that assess skills   Project/report   53 (39%)   18.0%
          2007). The American Geosciences    rather than content (e.g., Jensen et al.,   In-class   48 (35%)   16.1%
          Institute defines nine “critical needs”   2014), many syllabi indicated that exams   activities
          where geoscience contributes to the   were multiple choice only and/or based   Participation   28 (21%)   7.7%
                                                                                                         8.9%
                                                                                Attendance
                                                                                              7 (5.1%)
          development of solutions (AGI, 2016);   solely on content in different portions of   E + FE + Q*   134 (99%)   60.1%
          these issues provide a framework for cur-  the course. As alternatives or in addition       *The sum of contributors to final grades
          ricular materials that give students the   to exams, labs, homework, projects, and   for exams, final exams, and quizzes.

       8  GSA Today  |  October 2019
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