Find out about common rocks and minerals in the next MOOC given by IMT

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How can you tell the difference between the most common rocks and minerals and also find out what they are used for and their environmental impact? This is the educational objective of the new MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) “Common rocks and minerals: origin, identification and uses”, designed and dispensed by Mines ParisTech and Mines Alès. This MOOC begins on 5 June and lasts six weeks. Whether you are a student, a professor or simply a geology enthusiast, this course will provide you with the methodological knowledge to be able to identify the most common rocks and minerals, without turning you into a specialist.

The content of the “Common rocks and minerals: origin, identification and uses” MOOC

The methodological knowledge to be able to identify the most common rocks and minerals will be given to students who will study nine rocks and nine minerals. The course is simple and applied. The recognition criteria given are only macroscopic criteria.
One of the objectives is to be able to associate these rocks and minerals with their essential properties for a better understanding of likely problems when constructing a building or artwork, landscaping an area or using a material directly.

Without offering a qualification, this MOOC does have tests to confirm knowledge and requires between 15 and 20 hours’ work over the 6 weeks.

The teaching staff are Didier Nectoux, Curator of the Musée de Minéralogie Mines ParisTech, and Evelyne Pradal, Doctor of Geology-Volcanology at the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand.

Targeted at:

  • High school pupils wishing to acquire additional Geology knowledge;
  • Science-Technology professors;
  • Higher education students following a course in building, civil engineering, the environment and materials;
  • Technicians and engineers in the field of civil engineering who would like basic knowledge on common rocks and minerals;
  • Nature enthusiasts of any age, whether scientific or not, who are interested in nature.

This MOOC will start on 5 June but booking is possible until 18 June. The course will end on 24 July.

For further details and free enrolment
MOOC – Common Rocks and minerals

Download the press release (PDF file in french]