THE RESULTS OF A COURSE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS TO GEOSCIENCE. A COMBINED SUMMER AND FALL EXPERIENCE

Twenty-five students over two years participated in an NSF GEOPATHs funded two-week, field-based summer research course and a follow up 15-week course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). The goal was to attract, retain, and graduate a diverse group of students into an Environmental Geology program. Hispanic and female students were targeted for the cohorts, and 58% were female, 27% were Hispanic, and 8% were black. The students were split into two groups which worked in SW Florida. One group focused on surface water and groundwater in barrier islands and the other group studied calcite. Students in the surface water/groundwater group learned how to install temporary groundwater wells, collected groundwater and surface water samples, and analyzed water chemistry. Students in the calcite group learned how to collect field samples, prepare samples for analysis, and use advanced instrumentation to determine the calcite samples’ unit cells, atomic bonding, and classification.

An attitude assessment, based on Lopatto (2010), was given at the end of both the summer and fall course. The students indicated that this research experience increased their confidence to conduct more research which occurs outdoors, help them identify as a scientist, and positively influenced their decision to major in Environmental Geology. Compared to the two-week summer program, survey results showed a slight decrease in students’ interest in the semester-long Fall course. Ninety six percent of the students indicated the SW Florida location caused them to be more invested in the research experiences, suggesting a sense of place was important to the students’ positive experiences during this project.

Summer pre-test scores on summative assessments, based on Lewis et al. (2020), had a mean of 44% while the post-test had a mean of 68%. The Fall post-test mean increased to 88%. Paired t-tests for the summer and fall assessments show a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores. The students seemed to have a slightly more positive attitude towards research and geology as a result of the field experience, but their learning was higher after the semester-long CURE course. Fifty six percent of the cohort graduated with a degree in geoscience; 79% of the cohort currently have jobs in the geoscience sector or are attending graduate school the rest are still enrolled.