STUDENT ATTITUDES IN A LARGE INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY CLASS: IMPLICATIONS FOR COURSE DESIGN

In geoscience education the bulk of attitudinal research has focused on small classes, some with research or field components. Few studies regard larger, lecture-based courses common at many institutions. As a result, educators addressing attitudinal issues may be using approaches that do not address the needs of their classroom. This study investigates changes in student attitudes after completing an introductory geology class in a large lecture setting.

We administered the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (C-LASS) to four sections of physical geology lecture that used various pedagogical approaches, without an associated lab or recitation. The C-LASS consists of multiple correlated statements in five categories: personal interest, real world connection, problem solving abilities, sense making/effort, and conceptual connections. Students respond using a Likert scale (agree-disagree). We report the percentage of students that agree with the expert view (favorable); disagree with the expert view (non-favorable); or did not express a preference (moderate). Surveys were administered online to capture attitudes coming into the classroom (pre-semester) and after completing the course (post-semester).

Preliminary results include responses from136 students that completed both the pre- and post-semester surveys. On the pre-semester survey, students expressed 46.2% favorable views, 25.4% unfavorable views, and 28.4% were moderate. Post-semester, students shifted to unfavorable views (43.8 % favorable, 31.4% non-favorable, 24.8% moderate). In personal interest, real world, and problem solving, unfavorable views increased >9.5% at the cost of pre-semester favorable views. Effort and conceptual connections show a small increase in unfavorable views post-semester (>3.0%) at the expense of the moderate view, and no change in the percentage of favorable views. Our results suggest that educators concerned about student attitudes in large, lecture based courses should focus on components of the course that address application of geology outside the classroom, in student's lives, and problem-solving skills; additionally, we recommend further attitudinal surveys to assess the efficacy of various pedagogical approaches used in large, lecture-based geosciences courses.