JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING Research Article Students’ Problem Solving Approaches for Developing Geologic Models in the Field Russell N. Balliet, 1 Eric M. Riggs, 2 and Adam V. Maltese 3 1 Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 2 College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 3 School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana Received 10 January 2014; Accepted 25 February 2015 Abstract: Understanding how geologists conduct fieldwork through analysis of problem solving has significant potential impact on field instruction methods within geology and other science fields. Recent work has highlighted many aspects of fieldwork, but the problem solving behaviors displayed by geologists during fieldwork and the associated cognitive processes remain poorly understood. We present research showing how geology students initiate and develop geologic models as part of the problem solving process. We qualitatively analyzed field notes and interview data from 36 undergraduate geoscientists engaged in field exams during a 6-week advanced field camp. Eight cognitive approaches grouped in two broad categories emerged from the data that show how students develop geologic models. Students employ both single and multiple model approaches with varying degrees of success and frequency. The success of any given approach appears to be dependent on the level of students’ geologic situation awareness. The development of multiple geologic models leads to a higher rate of success in general, because of the inherent flexibility to accommodate newly collected data. Instructors should continue to teach a multiple model approach until students have the proper geologic skills to ensure a high level of situation awareness and exhibit expert characteristics in the field. Furthermore, students should be instructed to eliminate weaker models as they progress throughout each mapping assignment. # 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach Keywords: problem solving; fieldwork; geology; cognition; post-secondary; outdoor education; authentic science Introduction Fieldwork is an essential aspect of numerous sciences that allows students to recall, translate, and apply their classroom learning to the complex natural environment. Fieldwork is a broad term and can refer to many different styles and types of learning experiences (Boyle et al., 2007; Kent, Gilbertsone, & Hunt, 1997; Orion, 2003), its essence is the collection of scientific data outside a classroom or laboratory setting. A growing number of studies support the notion that incorporating fieldwork into curriculum greatly benefits students in earth science fields in many ways (Kempa & Orion, 1996), such as increasing problem solving abilities (Hesthammer, Fossen, Sautter, Sæther, & Johansen, 2002; Kelly & Riggs, 2006; Mogk & Goodwin, 2012; Petcovic, Stokes, & Caulkins, Correspondence to: R. Balliet; E-mail: Russ@STARBASEin.org DOI 10.1002/tea.21236 Publishedonline in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). # 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.