A former Earth Science student provided what follows. This "testimonial" includes what was, at least for her, a successful strategy for GEOL-1030. I hope it provides a few current students with a bit of guidance and inspiration.

I began Earth Science thinking "this is not my cup of tea."  My major is business education, not any kind of science.  I had also heard that I'd picked the hardest geology instructor you could have. The combination of those two frightened me... greatly! Dr. Harris even seemed to confirm this on the first day of class; he is obviously a very demanding instructor.  Fear consumed me!

But when he gave us the statistics of failure vs. success in his class, I took that as a personal challenge.  I wanted to be one of the few that would succeed; not just pass, but receive an ‘A’. So I became determined.  I succeeded in my mission and here are some hints of what to do…. And yes, it can be done!

HINT #1:  Buy the lecture guide that is in the bookstore.  Don't just buy it -- review the section to be covered before every class.  Dr. Harris also has some discussion questions throughout the sections.  Try to find the answers to them BEFORE class.

HINT #2:  BEFORE class, read the chapter in the book that is to be covered. The book will help you understand the lecture better.  If nothing else, find the answers to the discussion questions.  THEY ARE IN THE BOOK (most of them anyway).  The book does relate to his discussions…don’t let anyone tell you different.

HINT #3:  Participate in class discussion.  Don’t be scared!  Dr. Harris is very good about explaining why the answer you gave is correct or incorrect.  He will even try to word your answer in a different way to make you understand better if he sees you are trying to figure it out.  Participation will also make the class more enjoyable for you!

HINT #4:  ATTENDANCE is very important.  The lecture guide is an outline and needs to be completed and explained through his lectures.  From my experience, I found that attending class was critical to getting a good grade the FIRST time. The alternative is to skip class, get a bad grade, bring down your G.P.A. and still have to attend class the SECOND time around.  There will be a lot of things you have to do in the work place that you feel like you really don’t want to be there for or do. However, you've got to realize you won’t keep your job long if you don’t show up. And you won’t know what is expected of you if you stop attending meetings.  Why expect a good grade if you don’t show up for class?

None of these hints are especially hard things to follow.  Dr. Harris doesn’t assign papers or any kind of homework that has to be turned in.  So if you can answer or explain the objectives in each section of his lecture guide (because you understand them), you should do well on his tests. However, he doesn’t hand the test questions and answers to you before the exam. He wants you to THINK!  This is why most students feel he is so hard.

My major is business education. I want to teach business classes at a high school, but while taking Dr. Harris’ class, I thought about teaching earth sciences instead.  As I said earlier, at first I didn’t believe it was my cup of tea; however I found out it is interesting and have now reconsidered my future.  I may or may not end up teaching earth sciences, but I have gained a lot of useful and interesting information I didn’t have before this class.

The reasoning behind taking courses that aren’t in your major is so that you will leave school somewhat well-rounded. You can think of it as being kind of like a horse without blinders.  A horse with blinders misses all that is around him and can only go in one direction (i.e. your major).  A horse without blinders can explore what is around him and may even find a better path to take (i.e. classes not in your major) or at least have the knowledge of what is around him for future use.  So try out my hints in this class, or in any of your classes. You will be taking off your blinders and you might even discover you enjoy it.

- Kim H.