Does Earth and Ocean Sciences Change How Students See the World? Assessing How Earth and Ocean Sciences Courses Affect Student Attitudes

Student attitudes toward science can be a better predictor of performance in exams than the number of previous science classes they have completed. For this reason, we follow the pioneering work done in Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) which demonstrated a 5-10% negative shift in student attitudes towards Science. Related to traditional instruction methods, this shift represents a significant barrier to learning. As part of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, we measured student attitudes towards Earth and Ocean Sciences to assess changes in student attitude after taking courses in the Earth and Ocean Sciences Department (EOS) at the University of British Columbia,

Questions were adapted from the CU Physics survey to produce approximately 40 statements relevant to Earth and Ocean Sciences, for example: “Things I see around me in Nature often lead me to think about how the Earth works.” Students agree or disagree with these statements using a 5 point Likert scale. The survey is completed once in the first week and again in the last week of the course and individual pre and post responses are correlated. Student results are compared with expert responses to the same statements.

We present initial results from two semesters in more than 10 different courses. In general, EOS courses do not show the overall negative shift identified in Physics at CU.

We also present detailed data identifying shifts in student attitudes as they vary between (1) courses and instructors in a single semester, (2) the same class in consecutive semesters, and (3) online and face to face classes.

Finally we present the latest series of survey statements developed in conjunction with a similar survey from Geological Sciences at Colorado University and hope for your assistance with validating these questions.