KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW: ASSESSING THE KECK CONSORTIUM'S CORE OUTCOMES FROM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Students apply to the Keck Geology Consortium because the full-year Keck experience mimics the professional research process. But what do students learn in the research process? Key Consortium outcomes include identifying a research problem, gathering and interpreting data, relating results to a larger problem, communicating results scientifically, and working as part of a team. How well are we preparing students in these core elements? A recent alumni survey is the first step in addressing this question. Alumni report that the Keck experience enhanced skills in all core elements (on 1-5 scale, all > 4.0) except communication of results. We also asked alumni to rate how important these skills are in their careers and, in a preliminary analysis, compared career means to those related to experience means. Marked similarity between the means for three outcomes (identifying a research problem, gathering and interpreting data, and working as part of a team) indicate that we are teaching skills that are important beyond the research experience itself. Additionally, students report the following top ten skills and qualities most enhanced by their Keck experience: 1) Interpret data, 2) gather data, 3) enthusiasm for science, 4) acquire information on their own, 5) develop intellectual curiosity, 6) understand scientific findings, 7) understand how scientific knowledge is created, refined, and challenged, 8) professional self-confidence, 9) transfer knowledge from classroom to field, and 10) think logically about complex material. Of these, only three (numbers 4, 8, 10) are on the top ten list for skills needed in careers. The Keck experience best enhances the personal skills and knowledge needed to think and act like a scientist rather than skills directly applicable to a particular career. In this respect, the Keck experience reaches beyond training geoscientists to producing people who understand the nature of science itself. Finally, the alumni survey suggests some areas of action for the Consortium. Communicating results and relating results to the bigger picture are very important in their careers. If these are to remain key aspects of our program, we need to teach more directly to these skills.