Creating a Research Experience in an Undergraduate Geophysics Course: Integrated Geophysical Study of the Silver Creek Fault, Santa Clara Valley, California

An undergraduate geophysics course at the San Jose State University was redesigned to focus on providing students with an integrated research experience that included both formative and summative assessments of learning. To this end, the students carried out four geophysical studies (gravity, magnetic, refraction, and reflection) across the inferred location of the Silver Creek fault, which is buried by the Quaternary alluvium of the Santa Clara Valley within walking distance of the university. The seismic experiments were made possible with equipment loaned by Geometrics Inc. and seismic and borehole data first acquired during a joint study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Three field reports, one produced after each of the first three field experiments, provided formative assessment of each student's understanding of the geophysical method, its application to the primary research objective of defining the location and structure of the Silver Creek fault, and their ability to produce a manuscript of professional quality. After each of the field reports, students were required to rewrite the report, based on feedback provided by the instructor, as well as incorporate the analysis and interpretation of the subsequent geophysical study. Students also modified conclusions of the preceding surveys in order to produce an internally consistent interpretation with each new analysis. Regional geologic relations and borehole data provided additional constraints to interpretations based on the geophysical analyses. For summative assessment, students submitted a final manuscript that had undergone three revisions as well as presented an integrated geophysical study of the Silver Creek fault based on the four geophysical experiments. The quality of the field reports showed marked improvement with each successive submission during the semester and were significantly better than in previous versions of the course, which featured various projects that did not lend themselves to significant revision and improvement after initial grading by the instructor.