Teaching about volcanoes

Abstract

Volcanology education is important for the development of geoscientists and scientifically literate citizens. We surveyed 55 volcanology instructors to determine their learning and teaching practices, perceptions of academic development, and educational support needs. Instructors reported using a wide range of practices and tools, but lectures, field experiences, maps, rock samples, academic literature, and inherited teaching materials are the most common. Instructors valued educational support from others (e.g., talking with colleagues and students, consulting with learning and teaching specialists) over conducting their own investigations. However, they did not report engaging in as many of these activities as they valued. Instructors requested more support in resource sharing and collation, conference workshops, and co-creation of resources and educational research. We suggest that instructors and academic development staff work together to share and build knowledge in the learning and teaching of volcanology in higher education, and to improve student learning outcomes.

The potential for using video games to teach geoscience: learning about the geology and geomorphology of Hokkaido (Japan) from playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus

“…If effectively used, commercial video games can become a powerful tool in educational settings and at outreach events, to stimulate geoscientific education and engagement in students. However, despite the previously mentioned work, both on the use of video games in education in general and those directly applied to geoscience, video games are currently a rare resource tool used to teach geological concepts (Jolley et al, 2022).…”

“…Despite professional instructors rarely utilizing video games to teach geological concepts (Jolley et al, 2022), this example illustrates how they can be used to teach about a wide range of topics in an engaging way. Compared to other lit-E. G. McGowan and L. J. Alcott: Geology of Hokkaido in Pokémon Legends: Arceus erature on the subject matter that investigates a single topic across numerous commercial video games (McGowan and Scarlett, 2021;Clements et al, 2022), the focus of this paper shows how one game can introduce several geoscientific topics and potentially spark additional interest.…”

The Potential for Using Video Games to Teach Geoscience: Learning About the Geology and Geomorphology of Hokkaido (Japan) from Playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus

“…If effectively used, commercial video games can become a powerful tool in educational settings and at outreach events, to stimulate geoscientific education and engagement in students. However, despite the previously mentioned work, both on the use of video games in education in general and those directly applied to geoscience, video games are currently a rare resource tool used to teach geological concepts (Jolley et al, 2022).…”

“…Despite professional instructors rarely utilizing video games to teach geological concepts (Jolley et al, 2022), this example illustrates how they can be used to teach about a wide range of topics in an engaging way. Compared to other lit-E. G. McGowan and L. J. Alcott: Geology of Hokkaido in Pokémon Legends: Arceus erature on the subject matter that investigates a single topic across numerous commercial video games (McGowan and Scarlett, 2021;Clements et al, 2022), the focus of this paper shows how one game can introduce several geoscientific topics and potentially spark additional interest.…”