THE BENEFITS OF SIMPLE VALUES AFFIRMATION ASSIGNMENTS IN GEOLOGY COURSES

Values affirmation assignments involve asking students to describe their personal values and explain what is most important to them. Such assignments have been shown to improve the success of both underrepresented minorities in college biology classes and women in college physics classes. Values affirmation assignments are typically short and are given at the beginning of the semester and sometimes also in the middle of the course. I have included these assignments at the beginning of all but one of my non-field classes since the start of Spring 2019 (including Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Soil Science, Earth and Space Science, and Physical Oceanography courses), and I have perceived a qualitative improvement in the engagement of underrepresented minorities since I added this assignment. In order to test this hunch, this Spring semester I have initiated a study wherein one section each of two courses (Physical Oceanography and Earth and Space Science) will include a values affirmation assignment and the other section will include an alternative (not values affirmation) assignment. Responding variables will be course performance as well as the extent to which the students feel a sense of belonging in the course, the latter measured via survey. This semester the total sample size will be ~140 students, and the study will continue through the next year. Preliminary results will be presented at the meeting.