18 Evaluating Educational Outcomes in Geoscience Courses and Curricula

Friday, 13 March 2009
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM

BRINGING NATIONAL PARKS INTO THE CLASSROOM: ARE SPREADSHEETS A GATEWAY TO QUANTITATIVE AND GEOSCIENCE LITERACY?

Paper number: 18-6
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 2:55 PM – 3:15 PM

Authors

Abstract

A Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum (SSAC) module was integrated into the USF online course Geology of Our National Parks in Spring 2007. This course is offered each semester, with an optional 1-hour recitation per week in fall and spring. We are collecting pre- and post-module test data in conjunction with module grades to examine whether student success on the module translates to gains in quantitative and/or geoscience literacy, and whether addition of a recitation section enhances gains; preliminary analyses are positive. Student feedback suggests, unsurprisingly, that learning gains depend on familiarity and comfort with spreadsheets. Accordingly, the course now plans to add several modules. These new modules will be developed in the new project Spreadsheets, Quantitative Literacy and Natural Resources, in which USF faculty and graduate students will work with Resource Learning Centers to focus module-making activities on environmental geology and the Natural Resource Challenge.