WHY ARE YOU HERE? A COMPARISON OF REASONS STUDENTS TAKE INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY

Introductory geology courses are important for recruiting geology majors and training scientifically-literate citizens. However, reasons why students enroll in these courses are not well understood, especially considering 1) differences in institutional populations and 2) motivations pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, most people do not start college intending to study geology. Instead, majors may “discover” geology during their introductory course, which may have been taken as part of a general education requirement. For many geoscience programs, this is a physical geology course.

We used the Beliefs of Students in Introductory Courses survey for geology students (BaSIC-Geo I) in physical geology courses at two doctoral-granting institutions with high (Fall 2024) and very high research activity (Fall 2019 and 2024). The BaSIC-Geo I (Jackson & Ryker, 2019) identifies physical geology students’ salient and accessible beliefs about taking the course, what others think about their decision, and the degree to which they believe they had control over their course selection. Demographic questions, including major and prior science experience, and questions about interest in science more broadly, adapted from two previous studies, are also included in the BaSIC-Geo I. The courses surveyed are broadly representative of such courses at four-year colleges and universities, with the majority generally interested in science and taking the course at least in part because it satisfies a general education requirement.

We share initial results, including a comparison of reasons students give for enrolling in introductory geology 1) at one institution pre- and post-pandemic (Fall 2019 vs. Fall 2024), and 2) at both institutions in the same semester (Fall 2024). We anticipate that analysis of this survey data can lead to the development of more effective recruitment strategies for introductory geology and potentially the major.