EXPERIENCES FROM 13 YEARS OF A DUAL ENROLLMENT PHYSICAL GEOLOGY CLASS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AND SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL IN BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA

South High School in Bakersfield, California serves students in one of the poorest sections of the city. Approximately 85% of the 2000 students are minority—primarily Hispanic. The school has offered a Physical Geology class for advanced placement students since 1995. The year-long class is typically taken by between 40 and 50 seniors. The class is offered by a teacher with an MS degree in Geology and, since 1997, supported by geology faculty from California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB). University faculty give guest lectures, lead a one-day field trip, and organize a one-day visit to the university with demonstrations and laboratory tours. Upon completion of the class, the high school students can receive college credit for the university’s introductory major’s class, Geology 201 - Physical Geology, through the university’s “early enrollment” program. The opportunity to earn college credit has attracted top students that would otherwise take AP classes in other fields.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the class is successful at attracting high school students into geoscience majors. For example, three of the 44 students in the 2008/2009 class will be geology majors at CSUB starting in the fall of 2009. For the 2009/2010 class, a formal assessment program will be implemented. Questionnaires testing attitudes towards the geosciences and the career opportunities they provide have been developed and will be administered at the beginning, mid-point, and end of the class. Exams for the high school class will include some of the same questions as the regular university class to compare student achievement in the two classes.

Attempts to expand this successful model to other high schools are hampered by common attitudes from principals that other sciences and subjects are more important. Also, there is a shortage of qualified instructors at the high school level. However, attitudes are changing with recognition of the human impact on resource availability and climate. As a result, a similar dual enrollment class has been approved for Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield and will be offered there for the first time in 2009/2010. It too, will be taught by a teacher with a Geology M.S. degree and the students will have the opportunity to apply for college credit at CSUB.