Student difficulties in learning geoscience

A small-scale pilot study with three institutions (from the UK, USA and Canada) tested a methodology for identifying student and staff perceptions of difficulties in learning geoscience. A mixed-methods approach was used with questionnaires, interviews and a card-sort exercise. Seven difficult topics were identified by both students and staff: •mineralogy, •crystallography, •maps, •structural geology, •space/time relationships, •chemistry / geochemistry, •metamorphism. Also, six reasons for learning difficulties were found in common across all participant groups: •terminology and memorisation, •spatial literacy, •problems with maths/science, •abstract concepts, •issues with teachers or learners, •understanding the depth of geological time. The methodology has established some categories above, but additional tools, including checklists and problem-solving exercises are required to better quantify the extent of the difficulties across the student population and to explore more deeply the reasons for these difficulties