Adolescent Adventures in Geology: Impacts of Geoscience-focused STEM Education Combined with Recreation Activities on Adolescents’ Perceived Self-Efficacy

Quality, informal learning techniques combined with outdoor adventure recreation, or adventure STEM programming, is a potentially powerful complement to and extension of formal education (Fu et al., 2015). To address this underexplored field, West Virginia University (WVU) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) partnered to create a geology STEM, outdoor adventure recreation camp. This thesis research project employed qualitative directed content analysis to examine the potential impacts of this adventure STEM program on participants’ perceptions of their outdoor recreation (OR) self-efficacy (Bandura, 1994; Mittelstaedt et al., 2009). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 adolescent participants with an average age of 15 years. The camp program involved adventure activities combined with outdoor and in-class geology-focused informal learning. The curriculum employed was designed using a theoretical framework involving Experiential Education Theory (Kolb, 1984) and Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura). Participants completed an eight-day adventure STEM program which involved recreation activities such as hiking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, zip lining, environmental education, biking, fossil hunting, and geocaching. Lessons focused on geologic mapping, basic geologic concepts, historical geology of the Appalachian Mountains, and hydrology and environmental geology. Qualitative, directed content analysis of interviews show results indicating that there was a change in outdoor recreation self-efficacy beliefs due to experiences which took place at the camp program and that campers each had unique experiences related to the main sources and processes of self-efficacy, especially in the context of OR activities and experiences. These described experiences aligned with Bandura’s (1977) main sources of self-efficacy and the physiological processes reported fit with his described processes through which self-efficacy beliefs are formed. Notably, the following factors most often impacted all interviewed participants’ perceptions and beliefs about their OR-related self-efficacy: confidence levels, the perceived challenge of activities, self-described strong motivation levels to participate in OR activities, coping abilities related to difficult or risky OR activities, previous experiences, and a high interest in OR activities prior to attending the camp

The Impact of Substrate and Irrigation Interval on the Post-Transplant Root Growth of Container-Grown Zinnia and Tomato

Substrate type and irrigation interval were studied to determine their impact on the post-transplant root growth of ‘Thumbelina\u27 zinnia (Zinnis elegans Jacq.) and ‘Celebrity Hybrid\u27 tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Seeds of both species were planted in 80 cm3 (2.7 fl oz) plug cells containing either Metromix 360™ (MM360) or Ball Professional Growing Mix™ (BPGM) and, following germination, the seedlings were transplanted into 450 cm3 (27.5 in3) plastic pots containing the same substrate. Evapotranspiration (ETO) was measured gravimetrically each day and the water lost via ETO added back to the substrate at intervals of 24, 48 or 96hr. For zinnia, root growth was consistently better for seedlings grown in BPGM, a substrate with greater water holding capacity and air-filled porosity. For plants grown in BPGM and irrigated every 48hr, root dry weight was significantly greater than it was for any of the remaining treatments. For tomato, root growth was greater for seedlings grown in BPGM and for transplants irrigated at 96 hr intervals; but, unlike zinnia, no significant interactions between substrate type and irrigation interval were observed. The results of this study show that root growth of plug-grown transplants can be improved by selecting a substrate with high porosity that allows for optimum oxygen and water exchange, and by extending the irrigation cycle to 48 hr (zinnia) or 96 hr (tomato)