INCREASING SELF-EFFICACY THROUGH FIELD EXPERIENCES AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH: A COMMUNITY COLLEGE PERSPECTIVE

The Environmental Science transfer curriculum at SUNY Broome Community College was redesigned post-COVID to incorporate field experiences and undergraduate research. Students partake in two travel based science courses, Mountain Geology & Climate in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Oceanography in coastal South Carolina. Undergraduate research projects that support faculty research initiatives are infused in senior seminar projects conducted in the fall semester which allows for students to present at regional conferences, such as the Northeast Geological Society Meeting and the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC). Although too early for quantitative results, initial feedback is an increase in student self-efficacy. The modified curricular pathway has increased student retention and given students a wider view of the transfer opportunities in environmental and geological sciences.