STUDENT SURVEYS: USEFUL TOOLS TO ENGAGE NON-SCIENCE MAJORS IN LAB ACTIVITY REVISIONS

Like most universities, WMU offers an introductory-level geology course for general-education students (non-majors). In early 2012, declining enrollment, poor student evaluations and negative teaching assistant feedback drove the formation of a committee to revise this course. The issues were: a lab that was not coordinated with lecture, a computer tutorial that was not engaging, and a focus on memorization. The committee selected the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI) “Big Ideas” as a guide for reform. New course goals were to help students develop an understanding of how earth works, how it influences them and how their choices influence it. A revised course developed in spring and summer was implemented in fall.

To ensure that the original issues were rectified, student surveys were developed and completed for each lab session. These consisted of modified Likert ratings for overall lab quality, 6-9 Likert items such as was lab connected with lecture, did it have a clear purpose and improve understanding, and concluded with open-ended questions on what was most helpful, least enjoyable and recommendations for improvement.

As a member of the committee, the lab coordinator compiled data and reported the results. Highest overall rated labs were stream tables, Michigan fossils, earth hazards and pit mining. Comments indicated these were popular since most of the period was hands-on exercises and student teams were larger.

Survey feedback requested a brief introduction to each subject, so videos from the American Geosciences Institute on the ESLI Big Ideas became the opening for labs. Surveys also indicated students did not like getting dirty; plastic gloves are now available in labs.

Though it is too early to tell if enrollment will increase, it is evident that survey data permitted swift modifications for course improvement. Content learning with pre-test and post-test allow educators to ascertain retention, but does not provide data for making adjustments during instruction. Data-driven course reform using surveys provides rapid, easy to interpret feedback and the opportunity to make adjustments during the instruction period.