Digital Tutorial for Sandstone Petrography

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A demonstration version of an interactive digital tutorial in sandstone petrology was developedand tested during a one-year proof-of-concept project. The current tutorial is a collection of over petrographic images of sandstone components in which mapped regions respond to active inquiry (by mouse clicks) to reveal identification and conceptual information. Organized around the Folk sandstone classification, the image collection addresses both provenance and diagenesis and serves to supplement, and even partially replace, traditional laboratory exercises. Formal educational assessment of the tutorial was undertaken at the University of Texas at Austin during two semesters of GEO 416M, Sedimentary Rocks. The attitudes and attainments of undergraduate sedimentary petrology students who did and did not utilize the demonstration version as a required resource in their laboratory exercises show that students respond extremely well to this style of learning. Assessment results support the soundness of the educationalapproach and also indicate some clear directions for future development. This full development project is doubling the size of the image collection to greater than 600 images and associated text as well as adding substantial new elements in response to student experiences with the demonstration version. Assessment activities are continuing at the University of Texas and at four other universities. The digital sandstone tutorial is providing a well-balanced treatment of the principal petrographic characteristics of major sandstone components and the major sandstone types (and also examples of shales). The tutorial also includes self-assessment and skill modules that help students learn how to identify minerals, estimate the percentage of components, and texture. Publication through a non-profit organization makes this large collection of well-organized and intensely annotated sandstone images readily available to universities and individual students, including those that do not currently have access to petrographic thin section collections and petrographic expertise. The educational approach developed and demonstrated in this project can be applied to any natural science discipline that utilizes visual data.