20 June 2013

Course Notebooks: The Never-Ending Resource of a Midwest GeoSciences Group Course

We are amazed with the expertise, enthusiasm and energy of the people who attend our short courses.  To the credit of both the instructors and the attendees, the outcome of most courses feel like a historic event when I look back at most courses.

One of the key elements to prolong the life and effectiveness of any course experience is the COURSE NOTEBOOK.   It is amazing when I hear stories from long-past course attendees who routinely turn to their Course Notebook for the answer to help them face a technical challenge. 

There are two people attending the Advanced Aquifer Testing Course in Calgary, Alberta who provide a testament to this observation.  Sitting in the front row of the class is Laura whom I notice is filling her notebook chock full of notes, page-by-page-by-page-by-page.  The 500+-page course notebook is filling up with "gold nuggets" that are verbally presented by the instructors.  Her approach to taking notes includes tabs and post-it notes that prioritize the importance of her notes.  Wow, this is awesome!!

Laura's notebook is chock full of notes on nearly every page!
To our surprise, a past course attendee is here taking the course again....plus he brought his course notebook to share how the notebook continues to prove a useful reference.  Todd Myse attended our first 3-day advanced level aquifer testing course in Miami back in 2005...and is attending the course again to re-re-fresh his mastery of aquifer testing.

Great job, Todd!  You not only have maximized the use and life of that hefty notebook, you carried it TO a course!
We obviously enjoy meeting course attendees.....the iinstructors of Midwest GeoSciences Group courses take pride in attendees when we see how our courses play a positive role in both their work plus being responsible stewards of this planet that was given to us by our Creator.