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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Geology Professors and Student Present at Geological Society of America


Geology professors Jessica Barone and Amanda Colosimo brought seven student members of the Geosciences Association (student geology club) to the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Baltimore, MD from October 31- November 3. Kristie Yager, Vice President of the Geosciences Association, presented a poster on her experiences as a teaching assistant in a Physical Geology laboratory during the spring of 2015. Kristie was one of the only community college students presenting work at a conference of thousands of geologists nationwide.

Three students, including Kristie Yager, participated in a 2-credit independent study project in the spring 2015 semester. Teaching assistants met with Professors Barone and Colosimo weekly to prepare for lab implementation, facilitated weekly Physical Geology labs, assisted in field trips, implemented a lesson on Seismology, and held weekly tutoring hours for Physical Geology students.  Professors Barone and Colosimo presented qualitative and quantitative data collected from both teaching assistants and Physical Geology students. Teaching assistants showed improvement in all major curricular areas based on pre- and post- semester lab exams, as well as increased confidence and improved self- perception as both a student and a teacher. Physical Geology students unanimously agreed that there were substantial benefits to having teaching assistants in lab, including more efficient use of lab time and increased availability for assistance.

Abstracts for presented material can be found online at https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2015AM/webprogram/Paper259735.html and https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2015AM/webprogram/Paper262937.html. Please contact Professors Barone or Colosimo with questions.

Funding for this conference came from the Student Government Association (SGA), Dean Laurel Sanger (Science, Health, and Business) and the Department of Chemistry and Geosciences.

Margaret Kaminsky
Chemistry and Geosciences
11/09/2015