NOT JUST JOCKS STUDYING ROCKS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS IN AN INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY CLASSROOM

As geoscience educators, we tend to make certain assumptions about our introductory students including their motivations for enrolling. But are these assumptions uniform or even accurate? What is the experience of introductory community college students? Students at the community college level offer a diverse background of experiences and skill sets. What can we learn from these students beyond the general statistics? We conducted a systematic qualitative analysis (Erickson, 1986) of one community college geology classroom using classroom observations, student interviews, and artifacts from the class in an attempt to address these questions. Results from the study are confined to this classroom, but we offer generalized recommendations that can be applied to other educational settings.

Three students were selected to illustrate the sampled spectrum of male students’ experiences in introductory geoscience courses. Based on the data collected, we see a correlation between student academic preparedness and the connections students make to the geoscience content. Academic preparedness includes students who are high Self-Regulatory Learners (SRL) (e.g., possess strong study skills, understands how s/he learns, asks relevant and meaningful questions about the content) and have a strong Future Time Perspective (FTP is a student’s understanding of what his/her future goals are). Students with a high FTP may have a greater success with performance, but are generally less interested in connecting the content of a general education course to their future goals (Husman, 2007). Based on this study, it appears that students with a high FTP and were strong SRLs were more likely to find relevance to the course content than those who lacked one or both (low SRL and/or low FTP).

There are strategies that can be taught to develop student ability to expand FTP (Husman & Lens, 1999) and strengthen SRL skills (Weinstein et al, 2000). By fostering our student development of these skills within our geoscience classrooms, we may help them to make meaningful connections to the content, which may provide greater opportunities for them to develop an interest in the content. These strategies can be an important factor to increase persistence when a student faces failure and strengthens skills that are critical for success in college.