Two teaching approaches for improving student learning in general education hydrology

• Main Author: Tollefson, Stacy Joy.
• Other Authors: Davis, Donald R.
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 2002
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191330

Recent national and local science education reform efforts to promote scientific and hydrologic literacy call for a new vision of science teaching. This is a vision where the understanding of science concepts is emphasized over the memorization of facts, and where students are engaged in "inquiry-based" laboratory experiences rather than the typical "cookbook" laboratory experiences. In order to align with this vision, reformbased instructional practices need to be employed. Two such practices used in the general education hydrology courses at the University of Arizona are described in the two manuscripts that make up the bulk of this study. The first manuscript concerns Vee maps, which support inquiry and conceptual understanding. The second manuscript discusses the use of Teaching Teams to support inquiry activities in the classroom by enlisting peer assistants to help the groups during Vee map, or other inquiry-based, investigations. Taken as a whole, these manuscripts focus on two reform-based instructional methods that can be used to promote student learning in general education hydrology.