GENDER-RELATED CHANGE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' INTEREST IN GEOLOGY COURSES

Students that approach science with negative attitudes may impact their overall course experience as low class performance has been attributed to a low interest level. Numerous initiatives to improve attitudes and interests in the earth sciences have been implemented at the K-12 level. Despite such efforts, anecdotal evidence suggests that many females enrolled in college geology courses still have lower levels of interest compared to male counterparts. This study investigates the gender differences in student interest in a college-level introductory course.

Two voluntary surveys about interests and geological concepts were administered to four large, lecture-based sections of a physical geology course. The surveys were administered at the beginning and at the end of the course to capture students' interest and knowledge at each endpoint, and to document change over the semester. Data collected include: gender, self –reported interest levels (low, moderate, high), reasons for interest level, learning gains calculated from the geological concept inventory, and overall course grades.

Preliminary results are based on 88 students (males n=44; females n=44) who completed both pre and post-semester surveys. At the start of the semester, many students indicated a moderate level of interest in geology (males: 52.3 %; females 65.9%), but more males indicated a high level of interest (27.3%) than females (9.1%). By the end of the semester more males reported high interest (male: 40.9%; female: 18.2%), while more females reported a low level of interest (male: 20.5%; female 45.5 %). Average normalized learning gains were comparable (male: 0.49; female, 0.41) and not significantly different (t-test, α=0.05, p=0.11), suggesting that neither positive nor negative change in interest has an obvious effect on learning geological concepts. Contributions to the negative shift in interest include course logistics and self-efficacy, whereas relevance to the outside world and connections to past experiences contribute to a positive shift. Our results suggest despite comparable learning gains between genders, females are leaving introductory courses with low interests in geology. However, student interest can be positively changed by referring to geology outside the classroom and students' previous experiences.