Barriers to college students learning how rocks form

Students do not have a good understanding of how rocks form. Instead, they have many non-scientific alternative conceptions to explain different aspects of rock formation. Using 10 interviews and nearly 200 questionnaires filled out by students at four different colleges, we identified many alternative conceptions students have about rock formation. We then used themes within those alternative conceptions to identify the underlying conceptual barriers that cause them. Conceptual barriers are deeply-held conceptions that prevent students from understanding scientific explanations. One conceptual barrier can cause many alternative conceptions, and alternative conceptions can be the result of more than one conceptual barrier. The seven conceptual barriers identified in the study that prevent students from understanding rock formation are Deep Time, Changing Earth, Large Spatial Scale, Bedrock, Materials, Atomic Scale, and Pressure. Because of these conceptual barriers, students cannot form scientifically correct mental models of how rocks form, resulting in alternative conceptions, so the conceptual barriers need to be overcome before students truly learn the scientific explanations of how rocks form. The results of this study can be applied to other areas of geology in addition to rock formation

\u3cem\u3eSleuthing Through the Rock Cycle\u3c/em\u3e: An Online Guided Inquiry Tool for Middle and High School Geoscience Education

The rock cycle is a key component of geoscience education at all levels. In this paper, we report on a new guided inquiry curricular module, Sleuthing Through the Rock Cycle, which has a blended online/offline constructivist design with comprehensive teaching notes and has been successful in pilot use in Rhode Island middle and high school classrooms over the past 3 y. The module consists of two overarching activities: (1) SherRock Holmes and the Case of the Mystery Rock Samples, and (2) Cracking the Case of the Changing Rocks. The module encourages hands-on activities, peer collaboration, and real-time teacher review of embedded textual and reflection components. Overall, Rhode Island teachers report that the module is an outstanding teaching tool and that the associated professional development is empowering

Barriers to College Students Learning How Rocks Form

Students do not have a good understanding of how rocks form. Instead, they have many non-scientific alternative conceptions to explain different aspects of rock formation. Using 10 interviews and nearly 200 questionnaires filled out by students at four different colleges, we identified many alternative conceptions students have about rock formation. We then used themes within those alternative conceptions to identify the underlying conceptual barriers that cause them. Conceptual barriers are deeply-held conceptions that prevent students from understanding scientific explanations. One conceptual barrier can cause many alternative conceptions, and alternative conceptions can be the result of more than one conceptual barrier. The seven conceptual barriers identified in the study that prevent students from understanding rock formation are Deep Time, Changing Earth, Large Spatial Scale, Bedrock, Materials, Atomic Scale, and Pressure. Because of these conceptual barriers, students cannot form scientifically correct mental models of how rocks form, resulting in alternative conceptions, so the conceptual barriers need to be overcome before students truly learn the scientific explanations of how rocks form. The results of this study can be applied to other areas of geology in addition to rock formation

DataZoo: an Oceanographic Information System Supporting Scientific Research

This report is about the development of DataZoo, an information system. Design, development, and use of this computer-based technology that aggregates, organizes, and delivers scientific research data is brought about through the efforts of a small information management team aiming to meet the data needs of field-oriented scientific research. The system supports ship-based oceanographic projects whose participants measure and observe and thereby produce an array of biological, physical, and chemical field data. The report could be considered the story of a software system but it becomes a larger narrative, a suite of interdependent tales when the data, the multiple contexts, and the associated roles are considered. To be understood fully, the DataZoo story must be considered from a variety of perspectives: a tool view provides a technological account of the information system with its incremental growth over three generations; an infrastructure view gives a situated understanding of the configuration and the work involved in creating a multi-faceted information infrastructure that interfaces with existing practices and procedures, and an ecosystem view describes the various phases, components, scopes and sphere’s of context with data arrangements. Our intent with this report is to reach out to a diverse set of audiences by including non-technical material along with technical material from various perspectives

Affective factors during field research that influence intention to persist in the geosciences

Although field and research experiences have been shown to help retain students in the geosciences, there is less known about how and why this is the case. We created a field-based research experience for five students with a range of backgrounds and prior experiences. We used mixed methods case study research to identify affect-related persistence factors influencing geoscience interns during a field-based research experience, to interpret how the experience elicited those factors, and to explain why the factors influenced students’ intention to persist. The study is framed within the Social Cognitive Career Theory and Geoscience Identity theoretical frameworks. Results indicate that the students in this field-research experience were influenced by five main factors: increasing self-efficacy, discovering people as resources, developing a geoscience identity, making connections with Earth, and maintaining interest. The first three factors have important social aspects to them that were impacted by the design of the field experience. The field experience contributed, positively or negatively, to the students developing the self-efficacy to succeed as a geoscientist and the geoscience identity needed to pursue a geoscience career. Therefore, these affective reactions of the students to the field experience, rather than cognitive reactions, played a key role with regard to impacting their intention to major in the geosciences

DataZoo: an Oceanographic Information System Supporting Scientific Research

This report is about the development of DataZoo, an information system. Design, development, and use of this computer-based technology that aggregates, organizes, and delivers scientific research data is brought about through the efforts of a small information management team aiming to meet the data needs of field-oriented scientific research. The system supports ship-based oceanographic projects whose participants measure and observe and thereby produce an array of biological, physical, and chemical field data. The report could be considered the story of a software system but it becomes a larger narrative, a suite of interdependent tales when the data, the multiple contexts, and the associated roles are considered. To be understood fully, the DataZoo story must be considered from a variety of perspectives: a tool view provides a technological account of the information system with its incremental growth over three generations; an infrastructure view gives a situated understanding of the configuration and the work involved in creating a multi-faceted information infrastructure that interfaces with existing practices and procedures, and an ecosystem view describes the various phases, components, scopes and sphere’s of context with data arrangements. Our intent with this report is to reach out to a diverse set of audiences by including non-technical material along with technical material from various perspectives

Increasing learning in introductory geoscience courses using lecture tutorials

Students often leave introductory geoscience courses without learning the scientific perspective, and we developed Lecture Tutorials to help alleviate this problem. Lecture Tutorials are 10-20 minute interactive worksheets that students complete in small groups in class after a short introductory lecture. They are specifically designed to combat alternative conceptions and increase learning on difficult topics. Our study shows that Lecture Tutorials increase student learning in the classroom more than just lecture alone. On related multiple choice questions asked before and after the Lecture Tutorial (but after a short lecture on the topic), student scores increased 19%. When a subset of these questions was given before and after an extended lecture instead of a Lecture Tutorial, student scores did not increase by a statistically significant amount. On the multiple choice assessment questions given on exams relating to the information covered in the Lecture Tutorials, students who completed the Lecture Tutorials scored significantly higher than students who heard just lecture. In addition, students feel that they are an important and useful part of their learning experience. Lecture Tutorials are being disseminated and are available for instructor use

Increasing Learning in Introductory Geoscience Courses Using Lecture Tutorials

Students often leave introductory geoscience courses without learning the scientific perspective, and we developed Lecture Tutorials to help alleviate this problem. Lecture Tutorials are 10-20 minute interactive worksheets that students complete in small groups in class after a short introductory lecture. They are specifically designed to combat alternative conceptions and increase learning on difficult topics. Our study shows that Lecture Tutorials increase student learning in the classroom more than just lecture alone. On related multiple choice questions asked before and after the Lecture Tutorial (but after a short lecture on the topic), student scores increased 19%. When a subset of these questions was given before and after an extended lecture instead of a Lecture Tutorial, student scores did not increase by a statistically significant amount. On the multiple choice assessment questions given on exams relating to the information covered in the Lecture Tutorials, students who completed the Lecture Tutorials scored significantly higher than students who heard just lecture. In addition, students feel that they are an important and useful part of their learning experience. Lecture Tutorials are being disseminated and are available for instructor use

Un-packaging Manuscript Preparation and Review Guidelines for Curriculum and Instruction and Research Papers

In November 2015 the Journal of Geoscience Education Editorial Board met to review and discussed the criteria for curriculum and instruction (C&I) and Researchmanuscripts. The criteria are important for two primary reasons: these guide authors in manuscriptpreparation, and also serve as standards to which reviewers and editors evaluate manuscript content and organization. The criteria that the board examined were put in place in 2009 and consisted of a single document (i.e., webpage link). The categories of criteria were broadly applied to both Curriculum and Instruction and ResearchManuscripts, unless otherwise specially noted. These criteria helped make clear that all scholarly work in geoscience education that were to be considered for publication in JGE needed to be grounded in the literature, needed a well-defined purpose, and needed to include a description of the study setting and population. In addition, all papers needed to explain and justify the methods used, and describe the results. Importantly, it also required that conclusions must be evidence-based, and that the validity and reliability of the results be considered. Lastly, it required that the broader implications of the findings be discussed.The Editors and Associate Editors are in agreement that these fundamental manuscript expectations hold true today. However, based on their experience working with submitting authors and reviewers over the last several years, felt that authors and reviewers would benefit by un-packaging of the guidelines into separate documents for Curriculum and InstructionManuscripts and for ResearchManuscripts. Such a step has allowed us to make some important distinctions between these two types of papers, especially in terms of their purpose, study design, and methods, and allows us to provide clarifications and examples that are relevant to the each type of paper. In addition, we have added the expectation of a Limitations section to both types of papers. The outcomes of the criteria revision effort are provided below, and are also accessible online at nagt-jge.org under Author Information.The criteria should be used to guide both the content and organization of manuscripts. In addition, see the recently updated Manuscript Submission, Format, and Revision Instructions (nagt-jge.org under Author Information) which address submission and revision requirements, format guidelines, and offers technical advice