John C. Butler

Professor and Associate Dean

• Ph.D.,1968, Mineralogy, The Ohio State University
• M.S., 1965, Geology, Miami University
• B.A.,1963, Geology, Miami University

First appointment at U of H: 1968

telephone number: (713) 743-3411

e-mail : jbutler@uh.edu

Internet Resources

• the Virtual Geosciences Professor

• Another Node On the interNet

• Geochemistry

• Geophysics On The Internet

• Geological Analysis

• Petrography Resources

• Physical Geology Resources

• the VirtualCoffeeRoom [a listserv for geoscience instructors]

• A Brief History of the Geosciences Department at the University of Houston

Research Interests

• Data Analysis
• Mineralogy
• The Internet

Although trained as a mineralogist/crystal chemist, my research interests have evolved considerably during the past 28 years. Continuing interests include topics usually grouped under the general heading of Data Analysis which would include, but are not limited to, the effect of numeric transformations (percentage and ratio formation, for example) on the properties of a distribution of measurements. Much of my time recently has been shared between the analysis of demographic and academic data that attempt to describe the characteristics of the University of Houston student population and an exploration of the potential of the Internet (really the World Wide Web portion) in creating learning environments.

• Butler, J.C., 1995, An introduction to geoscience education resources on the internet, Computers and Geosciences, v. 21, No. 6, 817-824

• Butler, J.C., 1995, Geosciences resources on the Internet, Speakers Corner, Elsevier Publishing, invited paper published on the internet.

• Butler, J.C., 1996, On the care and the feeding of moles, Campus Wide Information Systems Journal, volume 13, no 3, 27-32.

• Butler, J.C., 1996, Crossing discipline and administrative boundaries without a passport, Geocal, Computers in Teaching (CTI), no. 15, 6-9 (69).

• Butler, J.C., 1996, Is the world ready for a virtual geosciences professor?, Speakers Corner, Elsevier Publishing, invited paper published on the internet, September, 1996

• Butler, J.C., 1996, A Resource Guide for Geology and the Environment, by Pipkin and Trent, West Publishing, October, 1996 -- a disk-based Internet resource Guide accompanying Geology and the Environment by Pipkin and Trent, Wadsworth Publishing, CA.

• Butler, J.C., 1997, The Internet : Pandora's Box or the Missing Link - Part II, The Leading Edge, Education Issue, invited, volume 16, no. 7, 1033-1036

• Butler, J.C., 1997, The virtual geoscience professor, Computers and Geosciences, Special Issue, Distance Learning, voume 23, no. 5, 521-532.

• Butler, J.C., 1997 , Which is more difficult -- achieving institutional change or herding cats?, Active Learning, No. 6, July, 1997

• Butler, J.C., 1998, The internet - a catalyst for change, Special Issue of Computers & Geosciences, Summer. volume 24, no. 7, 617-621.

• Butler, J.C., 1998, Along came a spider -- weaving web resources, Campus Wide Information Systems, v. 15, no. 1, 22-26

• Butler, J.C., 1998, You show me yours and I'll show you mine, GSA Today, v. 8 no. 2, 9-13

• Butler, J.C., 1998, Rethinking expectations, Computers in Teaching (CTI), number 18 4-8.

• Butler, J.C., 2000, "An academic challenge for the Year 2000 : Pefect the Memex", Computers&Geosciences, special issue on the Year 2000 Challenge., vol 26, No. 6, 627-634. (82)

• Butler, J. C., 2000, "Is the Internet helping to create learning environments?", Campus Wide Information Systems, v. 17, no. 2, 44-48. (83)

• Butler, J. C., 2000, "The Internet will facilitate distributed learning", invited keynote presentation and publication, The Geological Survey of Portugal, February 3-4, 2000, University of Minoha, Braga, Portugal, 7 pages. (84)

• Butler, J.C., 2000, "Designing appropriate homework exercises for distribution via the Internet", The Journal of Geoscience Education, Special Issue on Good Ideas, expanded abstract. (85)

• Butler, J.C., 2000, "The role of the virtual tutor", Invited essay for Geotimes, August, 2000., accepted (86)

• Butler, J.C., 2000, "The gap between learners is decreasing", Invited paper for The Education Issue of The Leading Edge, accepted.(87)

• Butler, J.C., 2000, "Electronic communications and learning", Invited essay for Geotimes, February, 2001, (88)

• Butler, J.C., 2001, "Teaching and research Š. what do we accept as research?, Campus Wide Information Systems, in review (89)

• Butler, J.C., 2001, "Self-Selection : The Ultimate Control?", Journal of the Institute for Learning and Teaching, Great Britian, in review (90)

Recognition for Teaching

• Recipient, Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Houston, 1976-77 (five awarded)

Recent Presentations Focusing on Teaching

• Is the world ready for a virtual geosciences professor, GSA Annual Meeting, Summary Paper in the Session on the Internet and Teaching, October, 1996, abstract

• The Internet -- PandoraŠs Box or the Missing Link, WWW session sponsored by the Texas Water Resources Institute, TAMU, December, 1996, abstract.

• Developing HTML script for Internet-based teaching resources, AGU Annual Meeting, Macintosh Computer Applications, Short Course at San Francisco State University, December, 1996, short course notes on a disk.

• The Internet -- PandoraŠs Box or the Missing Link : Part III, Using the Internet for Geoscience Teaching and Learning, University of Derby, 10th July 1997. A meeting organized jointly by the Geoscience Information Group and the UK Earth Science\ Courseware Consortium to form the second day the their Annual Users' Meeting.

• The Internet -- AGI sponsored workshop at the Colorado School of Mines, July 20-22, 97 Invited speaker at the IDIG Conference.

• Teaching and Research in the Geosciences, September 19, 1997, University of Oklahoma, Invited Seminar Speaker.

• Capturing the Visualization Generation, October 26, 1997, Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Salt Lake City, UT: presentation with abstract.

  The Value of Research at a University - A Personal Opinion, Research Workshop presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Dallas, Texas, November 5, 1997, Invited speaker.

• Creating Internet Resources for Training - A workshop sponsored by the American Geological Institute, Boulder, Colorado, December 15, 1997. Invited participant and speaker. Exploring the possibility of developing resources which could be used in in-house training sessions as well as in academia. Potential of $1M in funding.

• Creating Internet Resources for Training II - Follow-up workshop funded by a grant from NSF for $125,000. Co-Organizer with Tom Boyd from the Colorado School of Mines. 12 to 15 Internet developers were brought to Golden Colorado to plan how to invest the $1M noted above. A three-day session styled after the Penrose Conferences, August 7-11, 1998.

• Rethinking Expectations II: Using the Internet for Geoscience Teaching and Learning, University of Derby, 26 and 27th June 1998. A meeting organized jointly by the Geoscience Information Group and the UK Earth Science\ Courseware Consortium to form the second day of their Annual Users' Meeting.

• IDIG - Improving Delivery in the Geosciences, NSF/AGI sponsored. Invited presenter at the five day program (Year 2)on Improving Delivery In the Geosciences, University of South Carolina. July, 1998.

• Creating Learning Environments - A one day theme session at the GSA Annual Meeting in Toronto, October 1998. Butler, Lamberson (University of British Columbia) and Huff (University of Cincinnati) are the organizers, Abstract.

• Rethinking Expectations III „ A presentation at the GSA National Meetings, Toronto, October, 1998, in the Symposium on Distributing Geoscience Information. Abstract.

• The Sage on the Stage versus the Guide on the Side : One More Divide to Cross - A one day thematic session at the GSA National Meetings, Denver, Colorado, 1999.

Editorial Assignments

• Butler, J.C., 1995, Editor for a Special Issue on the Internet for Computers and Geosciences, v. 21, No. 6 (13 contributed papers)

• Butler, J.C., 1996, Another Node On the interNet (ANON) columns published in Computers and Geosciences each issue. More than 30 ANON columns have been published to date and ten more have been scheduled.

• Butler, J.C., 1997, Editor for a Special Issue on Distributed Learning - DistanceEducation for Computers and Geosciences, 15 contributed publications. Vol. 23, no. 5.

• Butler, J.C., 1998, Editor for a Special Issue on the Internet in Education & Learning for Computers&Geosciences, 19 articles. Vol. 24, no. 5.

• Butler, J.C., 1999, Editor for a Special Issue on Geoscience Freeware and Shareware in the Geosciences, Computers&Geosciences, 21 articles, Issue scheduled for publication in February or March, 1999.

• Butler, J.C., 2000, Editor for a Special Issue on The Year 2000 Challenge „ Where Do We Go From Here, ~20 articles, Issue scheduled for publication in January, 2000.

Two Intrepid (or was that insipid?) Geologists

My Hero