GEO-EQUITY MODULES (GEMS) AS TOOLS TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS IN GEOSCIENCES

Geo-Equity Modules (GEMs) are classroom case study activities centered around environmental problems with intrinsic ethical and equity-related issues. GEMs were specifically designed to mitigate barriers that may prevent some instructors from incorporating ethics and equity into their courses. Three GEMs were created at IUPUI by a team of undergraduate and graduate students participating in a faculty-supervised internship where the students researched environmental issues, curated resources, and created content for the case studies. Topics of the GEMs include: (1) Lead contamination in East Chicago, Indiana; (2) Uranium mining and the Navajo Nation; and (3) Sea ice and the Pangnirtung Inuit Tribe.

GEMs are designed to complement a range of geoscience course content and therefore can be used throughout the curriculum with minimal prep time and commitment. They operate as in a “flipped” class – students do pre-class work to participate in group discussions and collaborative decision making during the class period, concluding with end-of-class individual reflections.

After implementation in several introductory, mid-level, and advanced Earth Science courses from 2018-2022, we collected quantitative data to examine the effect of GEMs activities on students’ empathic concern for the Earth, and their awareness and interest in issues relating to environmental ethics. Analysis of these data show a statistically significant difference in the Empathic Concern construct between gender with females scoring substantially higher than their male peers. This suggests that GEMs may provide a means for female students to thrive in STEM courses that support and validate commitments to communality and interdependency. Further, GEMs may provide students opportunities to practice empathy.

There were also statistically significant differences between males and females regarding their scores on questions measuring students’ awareness of, and interest in, environmental ethics issues. These results indicate that GEMs are particularly impactful for the understanding of, and future interest in, ethics and equity among female students. These findings support the use of GEMs as an inclusive instructional practice, and that GEMs may help attract and potentially retain a diverse group of students in the geosciences.