Critical thinking is routinely identified as a goal for student learning in higher education. Critical thinking, however, is difficult to define or teach, often left as an educational aspiration that is challenging to operationalize and assess. Therefore, many interventions targeting critical thinking are isolated and tend to focus on the development of cognitive skills, providing less attention to students’ dispositions toward applying these skills to different situations. In this study of a redesigned course at a research-intensive university, we query what a dispositional view of thinking can reveal about students’ understanding and experience in an active learning environment. Drawing on student reflection journals and semi-structured interviews with 13 students from two cohorts of the course, we trace how students decide when and how critical thinking is necessary and suitable, as well as when it is perceived to be too demanding or out of place in the classroom. The course included newly introduced, ill-structured problems aimed at competency development. We note that although students employed many critical thinking skills to complete these tasks, the uncertainty related to applying critical thinking to ill-structured problems often conflicted with students’ expectations of classroom instruction. When adapting to unfamiliar instructional practices, students were largely successful in using different approaches to solve problems. However, students’ sensitivity to error and tendency toward familiar ways of being students were barriers to the solidification of critical thinking habits. We argue that to foster long-lasting critical thinking skills and dispositions, education interventions need to shift from the course to the program level and move toward the development of broader cultures of thinking.

Geologically, the Arctic is one of the least-explored regions of Earth. Obtaining data in the high Arctic is logistically, economically, and environmentally expensive, but the township of Longyearbyen (population of 2617 as of 2024) at 78° N represents a relatively easily accessible gateway to Arctic geology and is home to The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). These unique factors provide a foundation from which to teach and explore Arctic geology via the classroom, the laboratory, and the field. UNIS was founded in 1993 as the Norwegian “field university”, offering field-based courses in Arctic geology, geophysics, biology, and technology to students from Norway and abroad. In this contribution, we present one of the educational components of the international collaboration project NOR-R-AM (a Norwegian-Russian-North American collaboration in Arctic research and collaboration, titled Changes at the Top of the World through Volcanism and Plate Tectonics) which ran from 2017 to 2024. One of the key deliverables of NOR-R-AM was a new graduate (Master's and PhD-level) course called Arctic Tectonics and Volcanism that we have established and taught annually at UNIS since 2018 and detail herein. The course's main objective is to teach the complex geological evolution of the Arctic from the Devonian period (∼ 420 million years ago, Ma) to the present day through integrating multi-scale datasets and a broad range of geoscientific disciplines. We outline the course itself before presenting student perspectives based on both an anonymous questionnaire (n=27) and in-depth perceptions of four selected students. The course, with an annual intake of up to 20 MSc and PhD students, is held over a 6-week period, typically in spring or autumn. The course comprises modules on field and polar safety, Svalbard/Barents Sea geology, wider Arctic geology, plate tectonics, mantle dynamics, geo- and thermochronology, and geochemistry of igneous systems. A field component, which in some years included an overnight expedition, provides an opportunity to appreciate Arctic geology and gather field observations and data. Digital outcrop models, photospheres, and tectonic plate reconstructions provide complementary state-of-the-art data visualization tools in the classroom and facilitate efficient fieldwork through pre-fieldwork preparation and post-fieldwork quantitative analyses. The course assessment is centred around an individual research project that is presented orally and in a short and impactful Geology journal-style article. Considering the complex subject and the diversity of students' backgrounds and level of geological knowledge before the course, the student experiences during this course demonstrate that the multi-disciplinary, multi-lecturer field-and-classroom teaching is efficient and increases their motivation to explore Arctic science.

Field-based education is a cornerstone of geoscience learning, offering students the opportunity to connect theoretical knowledge with real-world geological contexts. Yet, access to such experiences remains limited due to logistical, financial, environmental, and social barriers, especially in remote or extreme environments like the High Arctic. In response to these challenges, Virtual Field Experiences (VFEs) are emerging as promising tools to complement traditional fieldwork. In this study we investigate how VFEs contribute to experiential learning among students at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Using a mixed-methods approach grounded in experiential learning theory and the Technology Acceptance Model, we surveyed 66 students who used VFEs as part of geoscience courses at UNIS before and after physical field excursions. Results reveal that students found VFEs particularly valuable for pre-field orientation, spatial awareness, and post-field reflection. Students reported improved readiness, deeper conceptual understanding, and enhanced engagement. The virtual representations enabled them to revisit complex sites, identify overlooked features, and consolidate observations made during fieldwork. Importantly, most participants did not see VFEs as a replacement for traditional fieldwork but recognized their role in making field learning more inclusive, repeatable, and accessible. We highlight how VFEs can reduce cognitive overload by familiarizing students with unfamiliar environments, thus helping to manage the “novelty space” often experienced during initial field exposure. Students expressed strong interest in broader applications of VFEs across courses and disciplines, particularly when enriched with interactivity and guided tasks. These findings suggest that digital field representations hold significant promise for expanding access to geoscience education and enhancing learning outcomes. Future research should explore co-design practices with students and educators to optimize VFEs for equity, sustainability, and pedagogical impact across diverse learning environments.