170-7 The Math You Need to Support a Dedicated Quantitative Skills Course for Geologists

Session: Quantitative and Data Analysis Skills in Geoscience Education: Supporting Student, Course, and Program Outcomes, Part I

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Established in 2006, The Math You Need When You Need It was funded by the National Science Foundation to “level the playing field” for undergraduate students in introductory geoscience courses with respect to quantitative skills.  In 2022, a follow-up program directed specifically to Geoscience majors was launched.  At that same time in western Pennsylvania, a university integration plan was being implemented, forcing programs of the Pennsylvania state system to merge and adjust their course requirements.  At the new Pennsylvania Western University, geologists struggled with merging multiple programs into a single, coherent BS degree across three campuses.  With changes to general education requirements and credit distribution rules, difficult decisions were made to the majors and service courses.  Unfortunately, math and physics courses were especially squeezed.  As a negotiated solution, PennWest geology faculty developed a new course, Quantitative Applications in Geology, required for the new BS degree.  In the course’s first offering, The Math You Need for Majors was used to support students’ math skills and help contextualize them within geological applications.  The implementation included a Pre-test and Post-test and eight individual modules.  With only ten students in the class, statistical results are largely inconclusive.  However, post-course surveys indicate that students overwhelmingly increased their appreciation of the importance of math skills to their major.  This knowledge empowers the geology faculty to increase quantitative activities in other majors courses.  The increase in math in geology courses offsets the loss of some of these skills with fewer required math and physics courses.  It also improves students’ abilities to apply quantitative reasoning in their careers and toward licensure requirements.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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