A Service-Learning Project on Volcanoes to Promote Critical Thinking and the Earth Science Literacy Initiative

ABSTRACT

Students in Honors Physical Geology at Louisiana State University (LSU) participated in instruction in eighth- to ninth-grade geology and geography classes in East Baton Rouge Parish Schools (EBRPS) to help meet community needs. LSU students created instructional materials and reflected on the service activity to gain a deeper understanding of course objectives, an appreciation of Earth science as it relates to the global community, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. The service-learning project focused on an historical volcanic eruption and consisted of four parts distributed throughout the semester: K–12 teacher interview, research paper, poster and presentation to peers, and classroom teaching. Reflection, peer review, teamwork, and revision were emphasized. Presentations focused on Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI)'s “Big Ideas” (e.g., humans can mitigate but not control natural hazards). LSU students' perception of their learning from reflections/class evaluations indicated that they moved from “remembering–understanding” to “analyzing–evaluating–creating” within Bloom's Taxonomy hierarchy. LSU students also gained valuable experience in creating, reviewing, and revising written and oral communication. Based on K–12 teacher responses, EBRPS students learned about volcanoes, deepened their understanding of plate tectonics, and learned about college. Service learning requires a strong desire for collaboration among all participants. Communication and coordination are vital to success so that everyone has the same expectations, knows his/her role, and problems are identified and resolved.

Key words::

• service learning
• Earth-science literacy
• critical thinking
• volcanoes
• K–12 outreach
• communication skills

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the anonymous JGE reviewers whose comments greatly improved the manuscript. CCELL and CxC staff members are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance. JAN received a Faculty Scholarship from CCELL to pursue this Service-Learning project. Finally, we thank all the wonderful students and teachers who participated.

FIGURE 1: A 13-year-old girl trapped in the rubble of the Ruiz eruption in 1985. Photo: Frank Fournier. Used with permission of the photographer.

FIGURE 2: Student poster on the Laki eruption of 1783, with peer review comments superimposed.

TABLE I: Bloom's Taxonomy.¹

TABLE II: Assignments, learning objectives, and Bloom's Taxonomy.

TABLE III: Presentation/poster assessment rubric.

TABLE IV: Bloom's Taxonomy: Affective Domain—growth in feelings or emotional areas.