A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON SITUATED LEARNING IN THE GEOSCIENCES: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

The traditional higher education experience for students in the United States is lecture-based. Yet, a core component of geoscience curriculum involves interacting in the field within a community of practice. While there is an assumed value of such approaches, there is limited research exploring why and how these approaches are beneficial for students. One increasingly common pedagogical framework applied among earth science education researchers is situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Situated learning theory emphasizes (1) legitimate peripheral participation in (2) communities of practice. Legitimate peripheral participation focuses on development of expertise in a given field via authentic learning experiences, or the process by which new members of a field (i.e., novices) become experienced members (i.e., experts). In the context of geoscience education, the emphasis may be on settings where appropriate classroom concepts can be demonstrated (i.e., the field). Community of practice involves learning alongside a group of people who are engaging with similar concepts, problems, or experiences. Generally, an “expert” is a member of the community of practice who is also offering guidance and support to the novice learner(s).

This study used systematic literature review procedures to explore how situated learning theory has been applied in post-secondary geoscience curricula across the USA. To address this objective, we collected and synthesized literature in select geoscience education-related journals. Results of this study identify how situated learning theory has been implemented, including alignment of its application with the concepts as defined by Lave and Wenger. We developed a coding framework deductively from the core tenants of situated learning and inductively based on how articles had applied the framework. Results suggested there is a limited body of knowledge on situated learning theory in post-secondary geosciences, while this study. We hope that this study will serve as a guide to others who wish to integrate situated learning theory into their geoscience courses and curriculum.