ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF INTERNATIONAL FIELD EXPERIENCES on LEARNING IN THE GEOSCIENCES

The geology faculty at Northwest Missouri State University (Northwest) view field experiences as a crucial component of undergraduate education. In addition, Northwest holds among its core values a commitment to teamwork/team-leading and self-directed learning, multicultural experiences and cultural enrichment. To meet these goals, we developed a field-based, faculty-led, international geologic field course designed for any student who had completed at least one semester study in geology. Because our students had completed a wide variety previous coursework, we administered a 50-question pre-test instrument designed to assess their general and site-specific geologic knowledge. We utilized these results along with previous academic coursework to create two-person field teams in which a better prepared student was teamed with a less experienced student in an effort to maximize learning. Each student completed a field-based assessment instrument and took notes at each location. These exercises were collected daily, graded, and returned with feedback the next day. The course final consisted of the same 50-question pre-test with three additional essay questions designed to assess student understanding of broader field concepts and perceptions of geology. Qualitative comparison of mean values (pre- and post-test) revealed the following trends: 1) student post-test scores were more than 30% higher than pre-test scores; 2) underclassmen posted a 10% larger gain than did upperclassmen; 3) students who exhibited the greatest individual improvement in scores generally scored lower on the pre-test than did those who showed lesser improvement; and, 4) cumulative grade point average was not a predictor for improvement. These qualitative data indicate that field studies are a critical component of undergraduate geosciences education. In addition, it is our opinion that pairing upperclassmen with underclassmen benefits both; the former by requiring that they communicate knowledge to their partners, and the latter by providing a mentor with whom they may be more comfortable informally discussing geologic principles and processes.