UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ATTITUDE AND ENGAGEMENT IN INTRODUCTORY EARTH SCIENCE COURSES

Educational priorities in STEM at the undergraduate level include sparking leadership and innovation in emerging and rapidly changing fields, and educating a scientifically literate populace. Both of these priorities depend on the nature and quality of the undergraduate educational experience (NSF IUSE Program, 2015). The present study is built around both evidence-based and evidence-generating initiatives, and is focused on evaluating the undergraduate engagement and experience of students at SUNY Buffalo State in introductory geoscience courses.

150 students studying either Introductory Geology or Introductory Astronomy were asked to take part in an anonymous online survey during the third and fourteenth weeks of the semester. Survey questions are designed to explore student attitudes toward science, science-related social media engagement, experiences in secondary science classrooms, and emerging thoughts about their current classes, potentially including teaching assistant effectiveness. Student responses are measured on a Likert-type scale. An additional component of the survey is aimed at allowing students to opt-in for informal in-person interviews to gain qualitative insights into the student experience. This report focuses on the results from the first round of survey responses.

Session No. 155--Booth# 125

T78. Encouraging K9–16 Partnerships in the Geosciences to Maximize Recruitment and Retention Efforts (Posters)

Monday, 26 September 2016: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM

Exhibit Hall E/F (Colorado Convention Center)

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7
doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-284774

© Copyright 2016 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.

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