SEDucate: sedimentary log exercises for an active learning environment

Abstract

Active learning in higher education has been shown to improve students’ learning experience by focusing on a student-centered environment. However, the development of realistic activities that simulate the complexity of real world examples while being appropriate for novice learners is challenging. Here we present SEDucate, a GIS plugin to designed to build realistic active-learning exercises for sedimentology courses. SEDucate creates unique sedimentary logs for a tailored assessment based on modern sedimentary environments. The automated creation of simple sedimentary logs covering a variety of depositional environments can be implemented in a wide range of exercises and assessments for individual or group-based work. This novel GIS plugin facilitates teaching the characterization of sedimentary logs, the interpretation of paleogeography and the lateral variation observed in modern sedimentary environments.

Keywords

• sedimentary logs
• active learning
• education
• modern depositional environments