132-9 Towards a Citational Praxis: Teaching citational analysis through inter-connected active-learning activities in an undergraduate historical geology course

Session: Diversifying Geoscience Education Across the Academic Playing Field: Using Creative Methods to Foster the Current and Next Generations of Geoscience Professionals, Part II

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

We are excited to share this semester-long project that we developed for an intermediate-level Historical Geology course. The project serves three learning objectives: (1) identify, read, and assess peer-reviewed literature; (2) analyze the disciplinary scientific methods and citational practices that geologists use to define geologic time; and (3) envision citational justice and sustainable futures for geologic research. The project revolves around reading publications that define stratigraphic golden spikes, also known formally as Global boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) put forward by the International Commission on Stratigraphers (ICS) for the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (the geological time scale).  Students collaborate in class on a wide range of activities: searching for literature related to golden spikes; exploring who the authors are professionally; identifying connections between authors, researchers they cite, and field locations; assessing the impact of parachute science in stratigraphy; discussing journal financing and rules around disclosure of funding; and exploring the accessibility of historic and contemporary scientific literature from around the world. Students develop a nuanced understanding of the nature of the scientific data and methods that shape the geologic time scale as well as the political economy of scientific literature. A Geology Professor and a Pedagogy and Curriculum Librarian collaborated to design this project, which combines citational analysis with mastery of new material in sedimentary geology, paleoecology, and paleobiology. The project includes three rounds of jigsaw activities and constitutes about one-third of the total student time spent. Students consider these big questions: What is the deep time context for each of the three golden spikes we explore in detail? What role does the scientific method play in establishing and using golden spikes? How do different golden spikes compare with each other? Whose voices and what social relations are represented in scientific work on golden spikes? Do golden spikes result from or encourage scientific innovation? The most recent version of the course considers the failed proposal for an Anthropocene golden spike, inviting students to compare ancient and recent stratigraphic archives and consider who is accountable to the past and future.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

© Copyright 2025 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved.