INCORPORATING SOCIAL AND CULTURAL THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS INTO GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH (Invited Presentation)

Geoscience education research is interdisciplinary; utilizing frameworks from well outside the geosciences to explore the ways we teach, learn and experience geoscience concepts. For example, research that aims to explore collaborative educational environments are well suited to frameworks that conceptualize learning as a social experience. A well selected social or cultural framework can enable research on learning and engagement, examine the impact of a course or program on specific communities and a variety of other topics. In research that seeks to explore the experiences of people from marginalized or underrepresented identities, social learning frameworks can be combined with critical or transformative frameworks to center the knowledge and experience of minoritized individuals or groups. This presentation will provide a broad overview and some specific examples of theoretical frameworks and how multiple frameworks can be combined to explore complex education topics at the intersection of social learning, community and identity in geoscience education.