132-8 Fostering Geoscience Identity and Belonging: the Effects of Team-Based Service-Learning Projects at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Session: Diversifying Geoscience Education Across the Academic Playing Field: Using Creative Methods to Foster the Current and Next Generations of Geoscience Professionals, Part II

Presenting Author:

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Abstract:

Identity and belonging are important for career development. In this presentation, we share how a 14-week team-based service-learning project (SLP) impacted geoscience majors’ identities and sense of belonging in the geosciences at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic-serving institution. Data also shows that SLPs positively impacted participants’ identity, sense of belonging, and plans to continue in geoscience. 

From 2023 to 2025, four cohorts comprised of junior and senior students participated in different SLP experiences. All participants received training in group dynamics and science communication before working in a group to create an educational product to inform their community about local geological features in a nearby park. During the project, participants interacted weekly with faculty members and graduate students who followed a formal peer mentoring plan. Participants in each cohort completed a pre- and post-survey, and two cohorts participated in focus groups after their SLPs.  

Across cohorts, survey and focus group data show that participating in the project increased the extent to which students saw themselves as geoscientists and the extent to which they felt like they were part of the geoscience community, both at the university and beyond. Developing working relationships with geoscience faculty, professional geoscientists, graduate student mentors, and the other geoscience majors on their team fostered students’ sense of belonging in the geoscience community (e.g., several students described how the peer mentoring increased their confidence). Students also reported that conducting geology work in the field helped build their competency as researchers and scientists, and that having the opportunity to take ownership of their projects and communicating their findings to an organization outside their university helped them view themselves as professionals in their community. 

The SLP increased students’ interest in a career in geoscience and level of motivation to study geoscience. Several students reported that participating in the project affirmed and strengthened their commitment to study and pursue a career in geoscience, suggesting that experiences like this can contribute to retention of students in the geosciences. Students also expressed that the service-learning aspect of the project made them more interested/motivated to work on it, and described the value of working as a group in developing their teamwork and communication skills.  

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

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