31 Transforming Geoscience Education: Reimagining how we teach the Earth

This session will explore innovative and student-driven approaches to geoscience education. Contributions may focus on either design and implementation or research on evidence-based instructional strategies like active learning, project-based learning, field experiences, and others.

Tuesday, 10 March 2026
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
RCC, 105

Assessing the Impact of a Scaffolded Discovery Learning Cycle on Conceptual Abstraction and Students' Agency

Paper number: 31-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:00 PM – 3:15 PM

Authors

Abstract

Traditional instruction in the geosciences often presents scientific concepts as fixed procedures, which can obscure the creative and inferential nature of scientific inquiry. To address this, a scaffolded discovery-based learning intervention was implemented to help students construct and formalize geologic principles through guided intervention, peer discussion, and instructor-led formalization. This study examines how this multi-stage cycle might support students’ conceptual reasoning and sense of agency in learning geologic principles.

Ninety undergraduate students participated in the four-phased discovery cycle focused on relative age-dating principles. The activities included guided invention tasks using scaffolded worksheets, group presentations of invented principles, instructor-led formalization of terminology, and an independent final trial application. Data sources included student worksheets with guided reasoning questions, written reflections, and six semi-structured interviews. A hybrid qualitative analysis was used, combining deductive codes with inductive codes that capture emergent patterns of reasoning and metaphor use.

Preliminary findings suggest that the invention phase encouraged students to move beyond surface-level descriptions toward more abstract reasoning, identifying deep structural relationships and generating metaphorical and functional rules, such as the “Layered Cake Rule” or “Law of Tipsy.” Although many students reported significant cognitive struggle, this challenge appeared productive, promoting engagement and ownership of learning. Out of 61 students who completed the independent final trial, 42 (69%) successfully transferred their discovered logic, suggesting that the scaffolded invention effectively supported them for problem-solving.

Students also identified peer feedback and group discussions as key factors that enhanced both understanding and the sense that the activity reflected authentic scientific practice. These findings suggest that a scaffolded discovery cycle can help geoscience educators to move students from passive reception of knowledge toward active, independent conceptual thinking.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411697

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