The way in which these bonds occur are almost impossible to show without animation. Drilling Students on Basic Concepts to Reach Mastery Students often need extensive practice to reach mastery. Due to time constraints in class, even our best students may not gain enough practice to internalize concepts to complete mastery. Tutorials enable students to work interactively with new examples until they are confident of their knowledge. The software presents a series of regional maps with dominantly planar contacts, then asks students a series of interpretive questions on three-dimensional geology and geologic evolution of the region, providing immediate feedback on right and wrong answers.
Strong evidence exists for the power of collaborative work among students.
There are, however, serious limitations to using this approach within the context of traditional classes. When students attempt to work on a common document, they have difficulty integrating the ideas of various group members. Students working on group projects outside of class often experience difficulty finding common meeting times. Serious obstacles make collaboration between students in more than one class formidable. Technology offers ways to ease collaboration both inside and out of class.