CHRONOQUEST: CHANGING UNDERGRADUATE PERCEPTIONS OF EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH THROUGH PARTICIPATION

Many obstacles prevent undergraduate students from participating in earth science research, such as time restrictions, lack of experience, and individual perceptions of research. Additionally, some students have negative perceptions of research as boring, strictly lab work, or only for students who excel academically. Chronoquest attempts to address these negative perceptions and barriers. Chronoquest is a small, team-based, authentic research opportunity for undergraduates spanning three semesters (1 cr. per sem.) that introduces students to earth science research. Undergraduates participating in Chronoquest have the opportunity to do a research project related to Glacial Lake Agassiz using primary literature, fieldwork, and lab work while learning about data analysis and interpretation. Chronoquest helps students to develop more favorable and realistic perceptions of earth science research through hands-on experience. The goal of this study is to assess how students’ perceptions of research change after they have acquired experience. A survey sent to students in three demographics: i.) students who have participated in Chronoquest, ii.) students who are geology majors but have not taken Chronoquest, and iii.) students in an introductory level geology lab. All students were asked to answer the same questions ranking their agreement with statements related to perceptions of earth science research along with one free response question. The students who have participated in Chronoquest were asked to answer a few additional questions in a free response format. Our hypothesis is that students who haven’t taken Chronoquest may not have an accurate understanding of what research entails and perceive it as difficult, but students who have participated in Chronoquest will have developed a better understanding of earth science research and will be more open to participating in future projects. The survey questions and results will be presented.