7-4 Implementation and evaluation of course models that integrate scientific and humanistic perspectives for the development of multidisciplinary skills in geoscience students

Session: A Change in Focus for Sustainability in Geoscience Education

Presenting Author:

Sharon Locke

Authors:

Gutierrez-Jurado, Hugo Alberto¹, Locke, Sharon M.², Roberts, Robyn³, Vongsathorn, Kathleen⁴, Wacker, Tracy⁵, Mendez-Barroso, Luis Arturo⁶, Robles-Morua, Agustin⁷

Abstract:

Traditionally, science education in general, and in the geosciences in particular, has focused on teaching technical knowledge and developing competencies that are purely subject to the disciplinary field at hand. However, as the world faces increasingly complex environmental challenges, such as climate change and global warming and their disproportionate impacts on vulnerable and low-socioeconomic populations, there is growing recognition that geoscience students need a more comprehensive education. Therefore, geoscience instruction should also equip students with the tools to recognize the broader context and to develop problem-solving skills needed to address complex multidimensional problems where the human factor is essential. Such instruction would offer students a systemic and multidisciplinary approach that considers the broader impact of their work on people, communities, and the environment by integrating humanistic and meta-knowledge perspectives into traditionally foundational-knowledge based courses. Under these premises and supported by funding from the National Science Foundation's Engaged Student Learning Program, the authors developed, implemented, and evaluated new geoscience and natural resources courses at Southern Illinois University, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at El Paso and the Sonoran Institute of Technology in Mexico. In these courses, a majority of students (>70%) showed improvements in a variety of metrics, from better articulating complex ideas and scenarios to enhanced collaboration with peers and more engaged discussions in class and with instructors and their social circles. More specifically, the majority of the students in these courses demonstrated good to excellent progress in integrating ideas, by connecting class concepts to other knowledge domains, employing systematic reasoning to solve problems and translating elements from the class to critically analyze data and arguments in their daily lives. Additionally, instructors integrated the use of a spatially-enabled storytelling software (ESRI’s StoryMap), allowing students to create a learning portfolio while developing a narrative on a research topic of their choice. Among surveyed students, 87% agreed that working on the activity of developing a story provided them with the opportunity to reflect on their own learning process. Early evaluation data suggest that this course design framework has the potential to enhance students' understanding of the significance of social and humanistic aspects in solving complex, multidimensional problems in the geosciences.

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

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-10873

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