Cooperative Learning and Institutional Goals for Student DevelopmentThe affective domain is critical in defining institutional-level goals for student development:• Intellectual Development (reasoning, critical thinking); • Identity Development (autonomy, integrity, sense of self); • Interpersonal Development (socialization, respecting others); • Values Development (role in society, acts based on values, respecting rights of others).

Research in cooperative learning (e.g., Johnson et al., 1996) indicates that positive peer relationships are essential to success in school and help students learn, that isolation and alienation are predictors of failure; thus, cooperative interaction connects the affective and cognitive domains.

I have been using cooperative exams for mineral identification since 1991. Cooperative exams are more than “can you identify the correct mineral.” They emphasize hypothesis testing and reasoning from evidence. Cooperative exams promote a positive learning environment as students work together, listening to others’ opinions and defending their own observations. An explicit “no mooching” policy (on the syllabus) helps students begin to recognize that it’s not about what others can provide them, but what learning can be achieved for all when everyone participates.

Cooperative exam goals related to the affective domain include: that students will • increase knowledge sharing,• build community, • gain insight into what they know and how they know it, and • develop confidence and a sense of personal authority about their knowledge.

Preliminary results from the quantitative data show that cooperation during the exam is important: students test mineral properties, listen to others’ ideas, ask questions, and propose their own ideas more during the cooperative exam than when studying together.

They report greater confidence in knowledge, inquiry, and communication when they take the exam together, particularly in justifying their ideas with evidence.

Utilitarian – practical and material exploitation of nature.Naturalistic –direct experience/exploration of nature; curiosity, recreation.Scientific/ecologistic – systematic study of structure, function, and relationship in nature; knowledge, understanding, observational skills.Aesthetic – physical appeal and beauty of nature.Symbolic – use of nature for language and thought.Humanistic – strong attachment and “love” for nature.Moralistic – spiritual reverence and ethical concern for nature.Dominionistic – mastery, physical control, dominance of nature.Negativistic – fear, aversion, alienation from nature.Theistic – nature reflects will of supernatural forces or deities who govern destiny; fatalistic belief.

In most introductory geoscience courses students learn scientific ways of understanding and the practical benefits of the natural world. The goals for a course on volcanoes also include: to understand the world from the perspective of another person or culture, and to make decisions and act upon incomplete and uncertain information. Kellert's values provide a vocabulary and schema to analyze attitudes of people living with geological hazards, and a means for students to express their understanding of human responses to the natural world and its hazards.

Bringing the course goals home to the students’ lives: Exam 3 Take-Home Essay Question: In this course, we have explored people’s attitudes towards nature and volcanoes (Kellert’s “Values of Life”). We have tried to understand what it’s like to make difficult decisions, with limited and ambiguous data – decisions that can have large consequences for people’s lives. Discuss in this essay what you have learned from these experiences in our class, and how you can apply these ideas and experiences in your own life.

I realized that although volcanic eruptions are beautiful and fascinating, devastation occurs and what makes the volcano hazardous relates directly to the people surrounding it, and the lives that could potentially be lost. … Whether it is specifically their home or the land surrounding it, Kellert’s Values of life can almost always apply to them. … Trying to identify with these people, I have looked inside myself and have decided what my values of life really are and how I would react to having my life, as I know it, ripped away in front of me. I have seen that I have Naturalistic, Aesthetic, Symbolic and Humanistic values. … Without the knowledge that I have gained from this course, I would most likely … not take the warnings seriously until I would see the eruption myself because I would be in denial.

Before this class, my thoughts of geologists were people donned in white lab coats studying rocks. After studying the different eruptions in class, however, I realize just how important geologists’ work is to people and their safety. … By learning about these eruptions, I also learned the importance of supporting disaster relief and understand the needs of programs such as VDAP, which benefit not only the area in need of help but the United States as well with their training and experience.

The things we learned about how to deal with the people, or how people deal with the situation they live in, were able to be used with all different types of disasters and different life situations. … I used to think that people that got hurt in volcanic eruptions had been hurt because they didn’t know there was a volcano there… or they just did not have enough warning to get out of harm’s way. … after this year, learning about how some people depend on volcanoes for their source of livelihood, and especially Kellert’s Values of Life, I realized that it is really hard to tell people to get up and move, to leave their house and most of their belongings … I have found that these people, the ones that monitor the volcanoes, and those that live around it, have the “will to act in the face of uncertainty.” … In time of uncertainty, they act when they are needed, and they don’t live in fear or in restriction do to this. I have discovered that this idea is exactly how anyone, even myself should look at life.

We have explored the many attitudes and behaviors that people feel when something happens to the area that they live. … by exploring topics in this class it makes me think twice where I want to live. People are so ignorant today that they do not look at the potential hazards when building communities and homes. A perfect example would be New Orleans and how hurricane Katrina destroyed the city. I feel that people should look at the fact that the city is indeed below sea level and that it has the potential of flooding. I feel that people should look at the values of life and how certain people react to their homes.

The “Values of Nature” in a General Education Course on VOLCANOES

Examples of Action Research Related to the Affective DomainLeeAnn Srogi, Department of Geology & Astronomy, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, lsrogi@wcupa.edu

Kellert, Stephen R., The Value of Life, 1996, Washington, DC: Island Press. Think of these values as the ways that people relate to nature, our attitudes about or perceptions of nature.

CONFIDENCE in behavior while "taking cooperative quiz"

12

4

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6

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behavior

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asked questions of other students

respectfully challenged others' ideas

proposed ideas of my own

never did

very confident

very unconfident

cannot compare these behaviors when taking quiz alone

CONFIDENCE "taking quiz alone" vs. "taking cooperative quiz"

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behavior

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in

beh

avio

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developed strategies for identifying

never did

very confident

very unconfident

tested properties

weighed or debated alternatives

justified my ideas with evidence

Compare "preparing for quiz" with "taking cooperative quiz"

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18

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behavior

freq

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f b

ehav

ior

tested properties

weighed or debated alternatives

justified my ideas with evidence

wrote down information I didn't agree with

never

very frequently

infrequently

Compare "preparing for quiz" with "taking cooperative quiz"

7

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behavior

freq

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f b

ehav

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listened to others' ideas

asked questions of other students

respectfully challenged others' ideas

proposed ideas of my own

never

very frequently

infrequently