Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America

SESSION NO. 38
the Rotliegend to the Paleogene in the “Entenschnabel” and surrounding areas. In addition
to fault interpretation and structural analyses our studies include the investigation of salt
structures, their evolution and interaction with the predominant fault-pattern.
In the Entenschnabel area, the Central Graben is the dominating structural element. First
extensional pulses took place in the Lower Triassic followed by several phases of rifting from
the Middle to Late Triassic. During the Jurassic the main extensional phase took place in
combination with extensive diapirism. In the major grabens further to the east (Horn Graben,
Glückstadt Graben), a Jurassic extensional event is absent or less evident. Due to this
differences in evolution history most of the Upper Jurassic sediments are preserved inside the
Central Graben. Analyses of rim-synclines reveal that most of the salt structures inside the
Central Graben had a main phase of growth during the Late Jurassic while the salt structures
situated toward the southeast had their main phase of growth during the Triassic.
Another difference of the German Central Graben compared to the rest of the German
North Sea is a structural inversion during the Late Cretaceous. Most of these Late Cretaceous
inversion structures along the Central Graben indicate an approximate E-W component of
contraction which is nearly perpendicular to the regional trend of contraction along the Central
European Basin System in a NE-SW to NNE-SSW direction during this time.
Baldschuhn, R., et al. (2001). Geotektonischer Atlas von Nordwestdeutschland und dem
deutschen Nordsee-Sektor - Strukturen, Strukturentwicklung, Paläogeographie. Geologisches
Jahrbuch, A 153: 3-95.
SESSION NO. 39, 11:00
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
T6A. Earth Sciences for Society, Education in Earth
Sciences and Geoheritage II (GSA Geoscience
Education Division, GSA International Section)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, A 014
39-1 11:05 Huch, Monika
TEACHING GEOSCIENCES
HUCH, Monika, LEHMANN, Rainer, and HEMMER, Ingrid, Lindenring 6, Adelheidsdorf,
29352, Germany, mfgeo@t-online.de
In Germany geosciences, with the subdisciplines geology, geomorphology, soil sciences and
climatology, are not a full part of the curriculae in schools. Geoscientific topics are mainly
lectured in geography and in natural sciences, but not all relevant themes are covered within
the teaching units. Important societal problems are connected to climate change, natural
hazards or the availability of resources. To teach scholars in a modern and sustainable way in
this important fields teachers must get chances to fill this gab by individual activities.
To provide teachers geoscientific knowledge by scientists we organized a workshop to
give both groups room for meeting and exchange. Since the workshop will be held at the
GeoMunich2011 just shortly before this session results are open and will be presented
thereafter.
39-2 11:20 Goodell, Laurel P.
PREPARING GRADUATE STUDENTS TO BE EFFECTIVE TEACHERS
GOODELL, Laurel P., Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
08544, laurel@princeton.edu
As a comprehensive university, Princeton aspires to excellence in both scholarship and
teaching. Although faculty members deliver lectures and conduct seminars, graduate student
Assistants in Instruction (AIs) typically teach the laboratory portions of undergraduate courses.
There are challenges in preparing graduate students to be excellent instructors: 1) effective
teaching is not necessarily an instinctive skill, and needs to be developed and nurtured;
2) teaching, and working on improving teaching, is not always a high priority for AIs; 3) AIs may
have language or cultural issues that inhibit interactions with undergraduates; and 4) AIs may
be inexperienced in the curricula of the courses they are assigned to teach.
To meet these challenges, Princeton offers a range of programs and resources. The
University’s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning (http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/
about/) offers orientation programs for novice AIs, pedagogical workshops, instructional
consultations and classroom visits, a Teaching Transcript Program, and a library of online
resources for teaching and academic work.
AIs in the Geosciences Department are mostly supervised by the department’s laboratory
managers, who hold workshops on the role of labs in the Geosciences curriculum. These
sessions cover responsibilities and expectations for AIs, and demonstrate inquiry-based
instruction. During the semester, the laboratory managers run weekly course-specific meetings
to review the previous week’s lab, to review grading standards and student concerns, and to go
over the lab for the upcoming week. The latter activity is most effective when the lab is taught
to the AIs as if they were students in the lab session itself. AIs are also observed and given
feedback on their teaching. Finally, the Geosciences Department issues annual awards that
recognize excellence in graduate student teaching.
Twenty years ago, there were practically no preparation activities or resources for graduate
student AIs. Since then, preparing graduate students to be effective teachers has received
increasing attention, with teaching seen not only as a condition of financial support for graduate
students, but as a vital component of their professional development and of the overall teaching
mission of the University.
39-3 11:50 Rubin, Jeffrey N.
FIELD GEOLOGY AND SAFETY ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
RUBIN, Jeffrey N., Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, 20665 SW Blanton St, Aloha, OR 97007,
jeff.rubin@tvfr.com
Progress in geological sciences depends on the ability of current and future practitioners
to teach, learn, and perform research in remote environments, but few laws, standards, or
even policies exist to provide safety guidelines for academic field trips, field classes, or field
research in remote areas. As with lab safety, a systems approach is preferable, incorporating
behavior and equipment. A comprehensive policy should include driving, awareness and
planning, communications, equipment, training, and staffing for field trips and classes.
Risks - and casualties - associated with driving are far greater than those associated with
most laboratory research. Institutional driving policies should be extended to cover trips to,
from, and in remote areas. Driving policies should include driver qualifications, number of
drivers per vehicle, driver rest and rotation, and “no-drive” times. Effective risk assessment
begins with hazard awareness and pre-trip planning, and should include physical, political,
medical, and social hazards. Advances in telecommunication technology reduce the likelihood
that participants will be isolated in event of emergency, and enhance speed and location
of emergency response: groups should not be in remote areas without some means of
A58 FRAGILE EARTH: Geological Processes from Global to Local Scales
emergency electronic communication. Although proper equipment varies with location, time of
year, and planned trip duration, basic emergency supplies, such as first aid kits, tire-changing
tools, potable water, and shelter should always be included. Appropriate training includes use
and basic maintenance of emergency equipment, wilderness first aid, crisis management, and
prevention. Equipment and training can be tailored to the needs of the end-users. Solitary field
research should be discouraged, and field trips and classes should have adequate staffing to
prevent and manage emergencies. Objective risk-benefit analysis is essential: decisions on
field activities, as well as policies and procedures, must be based on objective analysis rather
than convenience.
39-4 12:10 Kestler, Franz
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF GEOGRAPHICAL FIELD TRIPS - METHODOLOGY AND
RESULTS FOR THE EVALUATION OF FIELD SITES
KESTLER, Franz, Dept. of Geography, University of Munich, Luisenstrasse 37,
Muenchen 80333 Germany, franz.kestler@geographie.uni-muenchen.de
A wealth of normative contributions to the didactics of field trips exists. Empirical testings are
found on the basis of single field trip groups only occasionally.
For the results of the explanations on hand a one-day field trip was carried out ten times for
glacial morphology under similar framework conditions in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps.
Participants were groups with 11 grade class of Gymnasium, groups of university students of
geography and adult groups.
Only the methodology and the results of the assessment of the field sites are mentioned
here.
The evaluation of the field sites was made by all 159 participants in writing for the quantitative
analysis with the help of a questionnaire. In addition, a qualitative individual interview of four
experimentees was carried out. The Repetory-Grid technology derived from from the theory of
the personal constructs was applied.
The quantitative analysis has shown that significant object-independent valuation variances
at the field sites can be exclusively explained by different interest. Influence sizes like sex,
weather or order of the field sites do not have a significant effect on the assessment of the field
sites. The same ranking was given by groups of different interests in the evaluation of field sites.
The quantitative analysis showed that it is not required to demand catalogues of control
criterions for every single field site. As a rule, it is sufficient if one or, at the most, two of the
three control criterions “conciseness”, “fieldwork opportunities” or “aesthetic stimulus” are very
distinctive. The qualitative analysis by means of Repetory-Grid technology confirmed these
results and furthermore produced broader relevant judgement dimensions such as “rarity value”
or “realworld relevance” of a field site.
39-5 12:25 Künkel, H.
MODERN METHODS OF TRANSFERRING GEOLOGICAL RESEARCH TO THE PUBLIC
WHAT IS POSSIBLE, WHAT MAKES SENSE? SOCIAL MEDIA AND HD-FILMING IN EARTH
SCIENCE FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE AND CO
KÜNKEL, H., Dept. of High Mountain Geomorphology and Geography, University of
Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 5, Göttingen 37077 Germany, hkuenke@gwdg.de
Social media networks are the fastest growing social phenomena in the world. The facebook
network alone has more than 600.000.000 million users. Social media are not only a
teenage-peer-group or leisure time thing but a borderless publication, communication and
marketing tool.
There is no reason for the Science Community not to use the abilities of social media.
Knowledge transmitting and online presentation of research topics via social media channels
does not only allow reaching far more people than any other traditional publications, it is also
free tool.
The presentation will show how multimedia - especially social media and facebook - can be
integrated into geological and physical geographical research-programmes and environmental
education. Different concepts and possibilities of media usage for Geoscience will be presented
alongside stunning insights into the authors own research-media-projects in the Himalayas.
During a three-month research expedition to some of the remotest areas of the Nepal
Himalaya, the author tried out filming and media marketing for promoting his research content.
The background of the idea was to present the abstract results of the research to a broad
public in an interdisciplinary, comprehensible way using film, social media and print.
For Geoscientist working in consulting or educational positions it is important to minimize
the “transfer-time” between the empirical data capture, the scientist’s interpretations and policy
makers’ decisions. Traceability and linking scientific issues to affected populations as well as
to the decision makers are often difficult. The presentation will show how scientific multimedia
usage in this respect can facilitate that issue and increase the acceptance of scientific
information and advice.
Requests from economy, NGOs and other scientists led to the establishing of the authors
own freelance mountain and science media consulting-label “HK Mountain Projects”
in 2010. Besides he is working on a physical geographical PhD-thesis on the topic of
“Geomorphological Constraints of the Setting of Traditional Mountain Routes in the Nepal
Himalaya” at Georg August University Göttingen.
39-6 12:40 Lehrberger, Gerhard
WEB MAPS, SMARTPHONES, EBOOKS AND QR CODES: NEW WAYS TO SITES OF
GEOLOGICAL INTEREST
LEHRBERGER, Gerhard1 , MENSCHIK, Florian2 , and BEER, Silvia2 , (1) Technische
Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Ingenieurgeologie, Arcisstraße 21, München, 80333,
Germany, lehrberger@tum.de, (2) Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für
Ingenieurgeologie, Arcisstrasse 21, München, 80333, Germany
High performance and low cost internet access, as well as high quality GPS technology and
the everyday life usage of GPS devices, smartphones, tablet computers and e-books allow to
provide geological information easier and faster than by printed media.
The acceptance of electronic “excursion guide books” is strongly depending on format,
weight and handling of the devices. The second important factor is the compatibility of data
exchange formats. One of the so far most popular exchange format is that of the gpx-files
(global positioning system exchange format). But also other platforms such as Google Maps
or Points of Interest (POI) for navigation devices can be used. Quick response (QR) codes are
applied to post information on sites. A way of offline presentation of geological information on
site is by e-book readers, which can display texts and multimedia data from pdf- or epub-files.
The latter can be produced by special e-book editors, which convert html or pdf files. Positive
experience exists for the free SIGIL software.
Websites like “geocaching.com” offer so called “geocaches” and “earthcaches”. These
“caches” combine geographic coordinates with information about the location. Earthcaches are
a special type of “cache”, which leads to geological sights.
Simple web based applications can be used online or as a download package to publish selfdeveloped
tours and points of interest including multimedia data such as graphics and audio
files. Online navigation is possible in combination with own maps self-created in Google Maps.
Our own development are the so called “stonecaches” in the field of cultural geology. They
combine dimension stone topics with sight-seeing tours. “Stonecaches” can be obtained from