GP-IMPACT: Expanding Geology Discovery Opportunities Beyond the Classroom

Part I

The primary goal of GP-Impact: Expanding Geology Discovery Opportunities Beyond the Classroom is to increase the number of students pursuing undergraduate degrees in the geosciences. The geosciences represent a key STEM discipline that will contribute to solutions of several grand challenges facing Earth and its inhabitants. This project seeks to diversify and expand the number of students majoring in geosciences through the design and testing of new approaches for engaging high school students in authentic, career-relevant experiences. Fields such as geology or marine science are often discovery majors that students select only after enrolling in an elective college course. We propose to provide multiple opportunities for discover the geosciences to high school students so that they have a clear vision of what a geoscientist does and how this work can impact our local community, the nation, and the world.

We propose three programs to expose more students to the geosciences including: i) Creating an engaging summer program for early high school students to focus on the role of geoscience in society; ii) Working with high-school science teachers in nearby school districts to invite students to participate in an open house visitation program where they can interact with geoscientists in research labs on campus; and, iii) Establishing a collaboration with NCSU programs working with high performing and/or uncommitted incoming students to develop and promote a Geo-Journey summer bridge course to be offered prior to first-year students arriving on campus. During all components of the project we will collect survey data that allows us to measure student interest regarding the geosciences and its potential as a career option. This data will allow us to interpret the relative effectiveness of these three strategies in increasing the number and diversity of students entering geoscience degree programs in North Carolina.

The proposed project seeks to provide a mechanism for reaching a cohort of students who are currently unengaged with the geosciences in high school and do not consider the geosciences to represent a realistic career path. A second outcome of the project will be the production of a series of lessons that North Carolina high school teachers can use to customize instruction of essential geoscience concepts in earth and environmental science classes. Further, this project provides opportunities for geoscience faculty at NCSU to build robust partnerships with colleagues within university programs serving incoming students and with science teachers in the Wake County Public School System.

Part II

The primary goal of GP-Impact: Expanding Geology Discovery Opportunities Beyond the Classroom is to increase the number of students interested in pursuing undergraduate degrees in geoscience through the design and testing of new approaches for engaging high school students in authentic, career-relevant experiences in geoscience. We propose a multi-dimensional plan for reaching out to new populations of students beginning soon after they enter high school and ending a few weeks before they take their first course on campus at North Carolina State University. We break this down to specific objectives associated with the three elements of the proposal.

?? Objective 1 - Attract freshmen/sophomore high school students to a summer camp program focused on the idea that the geosciences represent an interesting and realistic career path. Summer camp programs geared toward high school students can involve students in some basic research during which they learn about the geosciences, work with geoscientists, and hear from working geoscientists about the nature of their jobs. Participation in these programs can develop an initial interest in the geosciences among high school students who may not have taken a related class.

?? Objective 2 - Present junior/senior high school students with the variety of types of research that represent the geosciences and demonstrate to them how relevant the geosciences are for the future of Earth at a variety of scales. Most high school students have little conception of what a geoscientist does and few have ever met a geoscientist. Students will participate in lab visits with research faculty in geology, marine science, and meteorology so that they can realize the significant role that the geosciences play in identifying and mitigating the grand challenges that society will face during their lifetimes. These visits will build interest among the participating high school students that will result in increased applications to MEAS programs.

?? Objective 3- Attract STEM-friendly students into the Geosciences through our new Colorado River GeoJourney course. We will teach a new hands-on geoscience summer bridge field course for matriculating first-year university students. This 3-credit course will focus on interactions between geoscience and society along one of the continent?fs most iconic rivers. Students will be recruited from university programs containing students with a STEM focus, but who may be unaware of the merits and opportunities of a career in the geosciences. A field course that is taught in a region of spectacular geology, and has an intentional focus on how geoscience is related to society, has the potential to convince some of the participating students that they should consider majoring in a geoscience program. We hypothesize that matriculating first-year college students who participate in the NCSU Colorado River GeoJourney are more likely to: 1) enroll in additional geoscience courses; and, 2) choose to major in the geosciences when compared against both their peer-population as well as in comparison to similar demographic cohorts prior to the implementation of the Colorado River GeoJourney.

The proposed project seeks to both increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the geosciences. During all components of the project we will seek to collect data that allows us to measure student/teacher interest and attitudes about geoscience and its potential as a career option. This will be in the form of pre/post surveys and/or performance measures. This data will allow us to interpret the relative effectiveness of these three strategies in increasing the number and diversity of students entering geoscience degree programs in North Carolina. These programs can have an additive effect. We anticipate that students who participate in multiple elements of the project will be more significantly impacted than students who complete just one element.

One outcome of the project is to provide a mechanism for reaching a cohort of students who are currently unengaged with the geosciences in high school and do not consider the geosciences to represent a realistic career path. Further, this project provides opportunities for geoscience faculty at NCSU to build robust partnerships with colleagues within university programs serving incoming students and with science teachers in the Wake County Public School System.