GEOSCIENCE MAJORS’ EXPERIENCES IN FIELD- AND LAB-BASED CAPSTONE COURSES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE LAB CAMP PROJECT

Field Camp is the most common form of capstone course offered in undergraduate geoscience programs in the United States. About half of all geoscience students participate in some version of field camp while earning their bachelor’s degree, and those who do not are often encouraged to participate in other types of field experiences. Most undergraduate geoscience programs also emphasize learning in the field by including a range of field experiences in regular coursework. Field Camp has traditionally been considered an experience that teaches requisite skills for professional geologists aiming to enter an industry job directly after earning a bachelor’s degree, to enroll in a geoscience graduate program, or to pursue a research-based geoscience profession. Research on the benefits of Field Camp show that many students not only learn valuable analytical skills methods, but also strengthen their geoscience identity and become acculturated into the geoscience community. But for some students, especially those from certain minoritized groups, Field Camp can be an alienating experience. In an effort to create a more inclusive and accessible program, Western Washington University has developed a second capstone option for geoscience majors: Lab Camp. Lab Camp is designed to create the same type of experiential learning environment for senior geology majors while removing some of the barriers inherent to in Field Camp and also highlighting lab-based research skills.

In this study, the experiences of students in both capstone courses were evaluated and compared. We used pre- and post-course surveys to measure how each course affected students’ geoscience identity and long-term educational and career goals. We also collected students’ perceptions of how relevant the analytical skills and methods practiced in each capstone course would be in their future careers. The preliminary results of this study, collected from the first year of the new program, are presented here. These results will be used to inform future instructional approaches and course design for the Lab Camp capstone course.