Evaluation of student learning, self-efficacy, and perception of the value of geologic monitoring from Living on the Edge, an InTeGrate curriculum module

ABSTRACT

The InTeGrate curriculum, Living on the Edge: Building Resilient Societies on Active Plate Margins (LOE), explores geologic hazards and related societal risks at plate boundaries. The curriculum incorporates research-based pedagogical practices and the use of geologic data for students to analyze and interpret. Materials were developed for broad use and have been implemented at 3 institutions in a range of undergraduate geoscience classroom settings. Here we present an analysis of student learning based on new data collected with a pre- and post-LOE curriculum instrument. Results indicate increased student learning in all types of classrooms examined. Learning gains occur in large classes (50–140 students) that spent the least amount of time on each unit (≤ 50 minutes), but students achieve even larger gains in small classes (< 15 students) that spent more time on curriculum (≥ 75 minutes per curricular unit). Learning gains occured in all class types in activities that required application of information as well as in items that required only simple recall. Students’ self-efficacy in their ability to accurately identify factors that determine hazards and risks at plate boundaries increased by at least 1 point on a 5-point scale following their participation in the curriculum. Most students agree (or strongly agree) that geologic monitoring is likely to be valuable to them and to society, which makes LOE activities relevant to them and correlates with their learning. Significant student learning also occurred in courses taught by an instructor who was not an LOE author, which supports the goal that InTeGrate materials can be widely used.

KEYTERMS:

• Curriculum
• InTeGrate
• student learning

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Susan Riggins, who helped collect data in her courses. During development stages of the module, David McConnell provided important guidance in developing the LOE curriculum, and Karen Viskupic and David Steer were very helpful in the assessment (and improvement) of the LOE module. LOE reviews from Michael Pelch and LeeAnna Chapman, technical assistance from Molly Kent and Monica Bruckner, and data compilation from Ellen Iverson were also extremely valuable. Exceptionally helpful reviews from Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft, a second reviewer, and JGE editors greatly improved this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The LOE module was developed with funding from the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) through the InTeGrate Project, which is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331.