COMPARING GEOSCIENCES-RELATED ENGAGEMENT GENERATED DURING AND AFTER THE USE OF MULTIPLE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES: ANIMATED VIDEOS, YOUTUBE, INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL GAMES, GROUP DISCUSSION AND POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS - PART TWO

Transitioning to in-person teaching still retains elements of online learning. This is especially apparent through the prevalence of smart boards, projectors, surround sound systems, and interactive computer laboratory-assisted teaching settings that deliver in-person computer-reliant learning. With younger students, especially middle school and high school, "chalk and talk" lectures are less effective at garnering participation, engagement, and receiving positive feedback. Today, there is a super-focus on activities and hands-on-learning. This requirement is so high that high school students have voiced an expectation that college must naturally be this way as well.

Further investigation built upon the previous study shows that the pedagogy that garners the most engagement is not only short and high intensity but also seamless, meaning not warranting multiple steps to follow to fully comprehend the introduced content. Longer interactive and gamified content, while very well received, caused frustration when the activity or game was segmented. A longer attention span is still needed to play gamified segmented content in excess of 2-3 minutes.

While action can be taken to apply the results of this study to maximize engagement (such as changing from long-form to short-form and seamless content, or low intensity to high intensity content), caution is needed when interpreting and actioning these results. According to the National Library of Medicine (NIH) "technology vendors are exploiting attentional processes to engage people with websites and applications and keep their attention on the page or in the app." As researchers and educators, we need to continue to monitor and measure outcomes from any possible changes. Future studies will delve into attentional processes, and the possible short-term and long-term detrimental effects of any proposed pedagogical changes in the name of engagement.