Abstract:

For many years I have taught courses on general geophysics and seismology at undergraduate and graduate level. In these courses, main effort was paid on transmitting the students, with different degree of success, the basic concepts and their professional application. Since earth sciences are semi-empiric disciplines in this task the major obstacle found is the lack of an appropriate method for teaching simultaneously the two aspects, theory and practice. Besides, the lack of appropriate resource material to carry out illustrative examples that can be handled with commonly-found classroom computer programs is an additional obstacle.

The wide variety of students scholastic background constitute also a obstacle in the preparation of a course that satisfies both, the ones who expect to become earth sciences professionals from those who want only to use earth sciences as a working tool. Thus, preparing a course in such conditions is not easy task. It requires to be pleasant with a simple language but without loosing scientific rigor, dotted with anecdotes of personages and events that motivate the students to become part of the earth science world. This is the main the objective of the present contribution. To prepare, using recent advances in instrumentation especially computers, a method on the assumption that one learn by doing and through real experience.

Keywords:

Teaching, Earth Sciences.