PERCEPTIONS OF RELEVANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY FOR UNDERGRADUATE GEOSCIENCE DEGREES

Chemistry content and coursework can present challenges that act as barriers for many geoscience students. The current study investigates geologists’ perceptions of the relevance and importance of chemistry as well as the chemistry knowledge and skills geologists’ use. A pilot survey was administered at the 2018 Geological Society of America annual meeting. Eighteen 5-point Likert questions probed the relevance and importance of chemistry. Participants were asked how many semester of chemistry they felt were necessary for a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree in the geosciences. Participants also rated how often they used a set of concepts or skills for an undergraduate geoscience degree with a four-point scale (e.g. “never”, “seldom”, “often”, “everyday”). The survey sample included 108 undergraduate students, graduate students, and experts. The data were analyzed using chi-square and ANOVA. Participants from all groups agreed that two semesters of chemistry were necessary for a B.S. in geosciences (X² (8, N = 108) = 7.844, p = 0.449) and four were necessary for a geoscience industry (X² (8, N = 98) = 5.943, p = 0.654) or academic career (X² (8, N = 102) = 14.038, p = 0.081). Undergraduates and experts differed on how many semesters of chemistry are necessary for an M.S. (X² (8, N = 99) = 23.171, p = 0.003) and Ph.D. (X² (8, N = 99) = 23.020, p = 0.003). Experts reported that three semesters are needed for a M.S. or Ph.D. geoscience degree, while undergraduates reported an average of four courses for these degrees. Participants agreed that the most important skills rated “often” or “everyday” related to applying properties, interpreting chemical data, and performing analyses of solid Earth materials. The lowest rated skills, rated mostly “never”, or “seldom”, included deriving and balancing chemical equations related to gases, interpreting chemical data of gases, and performing chemical analyses of gases. Other highly rated, geoscience relevant skills were applying properties of elements to aqueous chemistry, applying isotope concepts to scientific problems, and applying thermodynamics to scientific problems. The results of this pilot study suggest geoscientists value chemistry topics that are not emphasized in traditional general chemistry courses and would benefit from enhancement through tutorials.