AUGEN NEWS - August 2022

From the President

As we noted in July, the committee are busy working on our program of talks and events. We are excited to confirm the date for our inaugural first-year geoscience teaching discussion event, which will be held online on Friday 7 October. We are currently contacting subject co-ordinators of first year subjects at all our member universities to make short presentations, and hope to have a good representation from across the region in the discussion. See below for more details, all welcome.

We have also confirmed our next annual meeting which will be held online on Friday 10 February, 2023. This is always a highlight of the AUGEN year so now is the time to start thinking of what you might like to present! There will be a call for short (one-two paragraph) abstracts opening in November.

And our regular events are back too! Join us for the next Conversations event on Tuesday 13 September. More details below.

Are you interested in getting more involved in AUGEN? Key roles and some general committee vacancies are coming up and we would welcome new people to join. Send us an email!

And don’t forget to complete an AUGEN TEAM member profile to be included on our website and in a future newsletter https://forms.gle/kPk5YQwFDXh4S8vD8

Best, Sandra

A/Prof Sandra McLaren, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

University of Melbourne

sandra.mclaren@unimelb.edu.au

AUGEN Conversations

After a short winter break, Conversations is back!

On student motivation (and perseverance)

Let’s be frank, we all want to be masters of student motivation and have our own ideas about how to achieve it. In this Conversation, I show some tricks, which include the colour pink, a candle, an amplifier, and the Russian for ‘no’ to achieve student bliss. Sceptical? Come to the Conversation to find out how this works.

Tuesday 13 September 2022

10 am (WA)

11:30 am (SA, NT)

12 noon (Vic, NSW, Qld, Tas, PNG)

2 pm (Fiji)

Here is the link to join on the day via CollabUltra - no need to pre-register!

For further queries, or to suggest a topic for Conversation, contact Dom

📣 First year teaching discussion 📣

Friday 7 October

10-12 pm WA

11:30-1:30 NT

12 - 2 pm Qld/PNG

12:30-2:30 pm SA

1-3 pm Vic/NSW/ACT/Tas

2-4 pm Fiji

3-5 pm NZ

We aim to have a number of current first-year geoscience co-ordinators give short (5-10 minute) presentations on teaching at their respective universities, this will then be followed by general discussion on the key points around recruitment of first-year students, retention of first-year students, and pedagogy in first-year teaching.

Following the discussion we aim to produce a short document that (1) summarises the current ‘state of play’ in first year teaching and (2) highlights some aspects of best practice in first year teaching.

** Registration is required to join this event ** https://unimelb.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtceivrDopH9DhqwjzYNlijF63mrLNCDjA

🗓 SAVE THE DATE 🗓

Friday 10 February - AUGEN TEAM Annual conference (virtual event)

Links, reading and resources

  • Thinking about Earth Science Week? If you want to brush up on your communication skills the Geological Society of London has fabulous (and free!) online Earth Science Outreach Masterclasses presented by Dr Anjana Khatwa, Dr Hayden Mort and Cate Larsen

  • Do you like games? And games in teaching? Even better! Check out the fantastic new resource Go Extinct, from Ariel Marcy, Anita Tung and the STEAM Galaxy Studios team, for teaching about extinction. Order the boxed game for free on https://epicaustralia.org.au/resource/goextinctmegafauna/

  • Looking to bring sustainability into your geoscience teaching? Check out the open resources available from Geology for Global Development: https://www.gfgd.org/education

  • Fast track your look through the Higher Ed literature with the Higher Education Research & Development (HERDSA) shortlist for the 2021 Best Article Award: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/journal-prize-higher-education-research-development/

  • National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia Conference 2022 is on in Adelaide, 5-6 December 2022.

    This years theme is ‘Reimagining enabling in Higher Education’ that aims to capture the tumultuous and ever changing environment of our programs, specifically over the last few years. We hope the conference will offer the opportunity to collectively imagine and cultivate a strong and sustainable vision and plan for our sector. Further information, registration and abstract submission: https://naeeaconference.com.au/

National Science Week 2022

August in Australia brings National Science Week! There were many different activities showcased online and in metropolitan and regional locations, many featuring fabulous geoscientists, including AUGEN Team members:

  • Pat James (UniSA) who led a geology discovery walk on the beautiful Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, and collaborated with Colin Conor and Illuminate to discuss geological story telling

  • Tony Kemp and Naomi Tucker (UWA) ran Petrology in the Pub in Perth discussing the origins of geological glass

  • Melanie Finch (JCU) participated in the Townsville State High School STEM Stars celebration

  • Marissa Betts (UNE) was part of a panel discussion on Women in STEM: Leading the Way, as part of the Sydney Science Trail

Geoscience Australia worked with the NSW School theme of Glass: More than meets the eye, with a range of events. Links are still available to some content on their website here

Rocks online!

Are you looking for online imagery to supplement your rock and mineral teaching? Here’s a collation of resources from the TEAM:

In the literature

The learning styles hypothesis is false, but there are patterns of student characteristics that are useful

Daniel L. Dinsmore, Luke K. Fryer & Meghan M. Parkinson

Theory into Practice, August 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2022.2107333

ABSTRACT

The learning styles hypothesis—and particularly the meshing hypothesis—state that learners’ preferences about their preferred modality of learning (i.e., visual, aural, or kinesthetic) predict learning gains on academic tasks. Despite the fact that this hypothesis is not borne out by the scientific evidence available to us, it still remains in widespread classroom use. This article begins by discussing the evidence against learning styles. Second, the article discusses why teachers might continue to believe in and use learning styles in their classroom as well as why essentialist beliefs about learning are not helpful. Finally, 3 variables that do impact student learning—knowledge, strategies, and interest are discussed. Each is defined, their development and measurements are discussed, and finally some instructional examples are given. Replacing the use of learning styles in the classroom with instructional decisions based on the development of knowledge, strategies, and interest can improve student learning outcomes across a wide range of subjects and grade levels.

Earth Science Week, 9-15 October 2022

  • The happiest week of the year for earth scientists is coming soon!

  • In 2022, ESW will celebrate the theme "Earth Science for a Sustainable World" emphasizing the essential role of Earth science in helping people make decisions that maintain and strengthen the planet's ability to support thriving life

  • Geoscience Australia will soon be releasing their program of events - stay tuned to their website here

  • And check out the official earthscienceweek.org website here

Earth Futures Festival

You may have been following the inaugural Earth Futures Festival, a unique partnership of earth science and the arts. You will be excited to see that the short-list of submitted films is now available online https://www.earthfuturesfestival.com/the-films

A film by AUGEN TEAM member Marissa Betts (UNE) is among them!

Lots of fabulous earth science stories to watch, and many potentially useful for teaching and engagement. And don’t forget that People’s Choice voting begins at the end of this month!

Meet the Team

John Mavrogenes

The Australian National University

john.mavrogenes@anu.edu.au

My current teaching role

3rd year Economic Geology

Areas of special interest/expertise

Petrography, Geochemistry, Fieldwork, Outreach (general public), Outreach (primary and secondary schools), First-year geoscience teaching

Feel free to get in touch if you have questions on these topics!

What’s the best teaching advice anyone has ever given you?

Throw your notes out!

What do you enjoy most about your teaching role?

The students

What advice would you give someone starting out in geoscience teaching?

Teach what you are interested in

What is the greatest challenge to increasing the reach of geoscience education?

Poor teaching in High School/College - Makes it hard to win them back

Which wins for you? Rock, mineral, fossil, structure?

Mineral!

See all the AUGEN TEAM profiles online https://www.augenteam.net/team-profiles

WE NEED YOU! Complete the form at https://forms.gle/kPk5YQwFDXh4S8vD8 to be profiled on our website and in an upcoming newsletter!

Contributions to AUGEN News are welcome! Please send your updates, commentaries, book or journal article reviews, photos and ideas through to the team - sandra.mclaren@unimelb.edu.au