Teaching Geology Using the History and Philosophy of Science: Enhancing Conceptual Understanding

Glenn Dolphin is an Associate Professor in Geoscience at the University of Calgary, Canada. He previously worked as a geologist for a groundwater consulting company, and then as a 9th-grade Earth Science teacher in New York State, USA. He currently teaches geology at the University of Calgary and does research in how students learn in geology classes. Glenn’s particular areas of focus are using the history and philosophy of geology to teach both geological content as well as the nature of science. He also studies the influence of conceptual metaphors on both teaching and learning. Finally, he has begun researching the use and efficacy of virtual outcrop models for teaching geological content and process skills. Glenn has supervised students in research and constructing historical case studies for teaching geology. He as also supervised students in collecting and analyzing student data to understand their processes in learning. Glenn is the author of an introductory geology textbook entitled, Stories in geology: What we know and how we figured it out, published by Kendall-Hunt.