SEQUENCE OF INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOLOGY TOPICS: WHEN SHOULD PLATE TECTONICS BE TAUGHT?
HIPPENSTEEL, Scott P., Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Univ of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, shippens@email.uncc.edu and SCHWIMMER, Reed A., Department of Geological and Marine Sciences, Rider Univ, 2083 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 Traditionally, physical geology courses and textbooks are organized so minerals are taught first, and plate tectonics covered toward the end of the course. With the recent emphasis on inquiry-based teaching, and on viewing Earth processes as an integrated global Earth system, is this “traditional” sequence still the preferred teaching method? Are publishers reorganizing textbooks to capitalize on the “recent” Earth-system trend? With the traditional sequence, plate tectonics acts as a capstone topic to explain how the previous subjects (e.g., volcanic activity) are related to the broader spectrum of Earth processes. It also allows the instructor to define, in detail, the causa
