Conceptual understanding of sequence stratigraphy

Abstract Sequence stratigraphic and Wheeler diagram interpretations require a strong combination of conceptual understanding and diagram reasoning skills. Students are generally exposed to the foundational concepts within sequence stratigraphy (relative sea level, eustasy, base level, and accommodation) in a variety of courses along their degree path, however, one prior study found that few students have a clear scientific conceptual understanding. This study serves two purposes: First, we explore the impact of Wheeler diagram instruction on student learning. Second, we assess students’ common errors on an interpretation task prior to and after Wheeler diagram interpretation. Student conceptual errors are grouped into four categories (fundamental concepts, subaerial erosional unconformities, correlative conformities and sequence identification). In general, student errors were consistent before and after Wheeler diagram instruction. The most common errors related to students identifying the contact between two facies as a stratigraphic or sedimentological feature rather than sedimentary units. Additionally, we provide a set of suggestions for teaching sequence stratigraphy that may help target the common errors and increase student interpretation skill.