26 | Inquiry Using Analogies to Assess Student Learning

One of the most powerful pieces of knowledge that students can gain from the study of geology is an understanding of the immense scale of geologic time. In my introductory-level physical geology course at Northern Virginia Community College, we discuss geologic time about one-third of the way through the semester, after a thorough review of plate tectonics and the rock cycle. Because this subject is of foundational importance in all of my geology classes, I chose it as the focus for a Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT). Angelo and Cross (1993) present an extensive user’s guide to many different CATs, but the key idea with any classroom assessment is to try to figure out if students are learning what we want them to learn. Based on the feedback an instructor gets from a CAT, he or she can decide whether to move on or re-examine a particular issue. Geology Basics My physical geology course is a 16-week introduction to Earth products and processes. Meeting twice a week, we begin with an overview of Earth’s place in the solar system, followed by a discussion of plate tectonics and then several weeks examining the rock cycle. Traditionally, I spend on