LIMITED EARTH SCIENCE EXPERIENCES IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS AND THE SUBSEQUENT IMPACT ON UNIVERSITY GEOLOGY PROGRAMS

In our experience there exists much anecdotal evidence for the struggles that many university Geology programs have in attracting students into their programs. Some Geology programs have responded to this by developing field based courses designed to interest incoming freshman in the possible study of geology. Other programs, such as Biology and Chemistry, do not often have to recruit students in this manner to remain viable within their campus communities. This begs the question, why do Geology programs typically have smaller enrollments than other science programs?

This study represents a base-line examination of three key issues 1) the typical experience within public Earth Science classrooms, 2) the number of Ohio public schools that offer an Earth/Geo Science course at the high school level, and 3) the resultant numbers of students majoring in different sciences at the university level. Preliminary results indicate that there are only a limited number of schools that offer Earth Science coursework and most of these classes are typically not designed for high-achieving science students. Furthermore, the typical approach in these classrooms does not challenge students toward a deep understanding for the true nature of geologic understanding. These issues of availability and quality of instruction directly impact the numbers of students wishing to enter Geology programs at the university level. Our goal is to document these problems in an effort to support policy issues that will help to alleviate many of the educational issues that surround Earth Science opportunities at the high school level. These issues are essential to the future growth and health for all aspects of the Geosciences.