SOTL INQUIRY INTO STUDENTS MAKING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS TO THE GEOSCIENCES

In many states, K-12 students have few opportunities to study geoscience outside of required units in elementary or middle school, resulting in a lack of understanding about educational and career opportunities available regardless of ethnicity, gender, etc. Although we are training new geologists every year, the deficit for the geoscience workforce will be approximately 130,000 by 2029 (Gonzales and Keane, 2020). Also, more students are looking for altruistic careers, something geoscience can fill. To address assumptions of how students perceive this career, students played Geology Bingo, which consists of 25 activities about the discipline, employment opportunities, and meaningful careers to help their communities. Activities were selected and arranged so all students had a path to completion regardless of internet access, transportation, or money. All geology students regardless of which class they were taking were asked to participate in a pretest and post-test to compare the effectiveness of the Geology Bingo project to traditional ways of informing students about career and altruism opportunities in the science.

Geology Bingo consists of 25 activities arranged in the format of a bingo square. Students were required to complete ten squares for full credit. Students could choose any ten squares to complete based on their own interest and access to transportation, but had to meet the following requirements: 1) they must get one bingo consisting of five squares arranged vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, 2) they must complete at least three activities marked with a red circle, which are traditional activities academic departments may use to recruit new majors, and 3) they must complete at least three activities marked with a yellow star, which are activities where students may see or practice altruism by learning about how knowledge in geology may help others. Although some activities did require travel or potential admission fees, there were a number of activities selected and arranged to address concerns about access and equity (e.g. researching geology disciplines online, visiting their geology instructor in their office) including more than one way to get the required bingo for students with transportation issues or limited funds for admissions.