SCIENCE EDUCATION AT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: ENGAGEMENT THROUGH FIELD STUDY

Community colleges face many challenges in teaching science to non-majors. These include relatively few students with science-related majors and finding effective ways to teach basic scientific principles in an exciting, and engaging method to maintain student interest, which overcome pre-conceived notions of science. Incorporation of field study in an introductory science curriculum that services a student population of non-science majors can provide the opportunity to make earth science stimulating and engaging. In addition, field study can expose students to environmental and conservation issues making them more informed citizens and voters. As non-majors move beyond college into the work force and become policy makers, developers, and active citizens, their perceptions of sound science and the importance of science in decision making for the community is formed from their experiences in science courses taken at the college level.

We have maintained a very active multidisciplinary field study program varying from local day trips to a 12 day extended trip specifically designed for non-science majors. These trips are designed to incorporate both geology and biology topics illustrating the cross-discipline nature of science education. The trips allow students to travel to classic geologic locales that provide a means of science immersion in a more active learning and inquiry based atmosphere. Students are encouraged to ask questions about nature, formulate methods for answering those questions, and evaluate answers. The field studies emphasize rock identification, structural geology, geologic time, topographic map interpretation, environmental hazards, microbiology, ecology, and wildlife biology. Furthermore, these trips provide an opportunity for students to refine observation and inquiry skills beyond a set of laboratory exercises and classroom lectures. An added benefit is an increased confidence and improved student attitude in science. Evaluations often include statements that the field trip brought geology to life through hands-on interaction and “real world” examples. In addition, trips have served as a recruitment tool for geology programs as several students have gone on to pursue earth-science related degrees in which they credit the field trip as an inspiration.