Teaching Geology in Higher Education Institutions under COVID-19 Conditions

Teaching geology under COVID-19 pandemic conditions led to teaching limitations for educators and learning difficulties for students. The lockdown obstructed face-to-face teaching, laboratory work, and fieldtrips. To minimize the impact of this situation, new distance learning teaching methods and tools were developed. The current study presents the results of an empirical study, where distance learning teaching tools were constructed and used to teach geology to university students. A mineralogical mobile phone application was used to replace laboratory mineral identification and a flow chart to replace laboratory rock identification. Additionally, exercises on faults and maps were developed to fill the gap that was created as field work was impossible. A university course on geology was designed on the basis of the constructed distance learning teaching tools, and more than 100 students from the Department of Civil Engineering attended the course. The results show that the proposed tools helped the students to considerably understand scientific information on geology and supported the learning outcomes. Thus, it is suggested that the teaching tools, constructed for the purposes of the study, could be used in conditions when distance learning is required, or even under typical learning conditions after laboratories, as well as before or after fieldtrips, for better learning outcomes.

Automated summary

Teaching geology under COVID-19 pandemic conditions faced limitations due to lockdown, which hindered face-to-face teaching, laboratory work, and fieldtrips. To address this, new distance learning tools were developed, including a mineralogical mobile phone application for laboratory mineral identification, a flow chart for laboratory rock identification, and exercises on faults and maps. The constructed teaching tools were used in a university course on geology, with positive outcomes in terms of student understanding and learning. These tools can be utilized in distance learning or typical learning conditions to enhance learning outcomes.