132-7 Teaching Plate Tectonics: Shifting Student Learning Potential with a Hands-On Project

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

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While plate tectonics is arguably one of the most important topics covered in geoscience courses, many students fail to adequately grasp its fundamentals, and even fewer understand the full importance of this planet-shaping topic.  Introductory courses tend to discuss plate boundary types and their associated geologic features, but a disconnect exists when students are asked to explain why these features form and how they relay the geologic history of an area.  To support critical thinking on this important topic, the Plate Tectonics Activity was created.  It has students place provided continents with surface features on two maps (present day and 500 mya) of a recently discovered planet and draw tectonic boundaries.  This exercise requires students to understand connections and be able to explain how a planet they design changes through geologic time.  The Plate Tectonic activity has been used in Historical Geology where students report a better understanding of plate tectonics and their influence on geologic history.  Approximately 37% of recently-polled students stated that plate tectonics was their favorite topic in the course.  The scope and difficulty of the activity can be scaled according to teaching objectives and course level. This presentation will demonstrate how to create your own version of the Plate Tectonics activity and will also discuss related applications. 

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

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