Fanning the Flames of Student Interest: Dual Credit Courses

andRecruitment of Geoscience

Majors

James R. EBERT: SUNY Oneonta

Nicole D. LADUE: Northern Illinois University

Richard W. SCHMIDT: Upper Dublin High School

Julie C. LIBARKIN: Michigan State University

Todd D. ELLIS: SUNY Oneonta

Steve KLUGE: New Milford, CT

States Requiring Specific Course or Content for

GraduationLife Science

PhysicalScience

ESSConcepts

ESS/ENVSCourse

Modified from AGI Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding, 2013,Earth and Space Sciences Education in U.S. Secondary Schools: Key Indicators and Trends

Why Do Students Choose to Major in the Geosciences?

“…there is a strong correlation between

the number of people majoring … and

the number of courses taken in each

field at the high school level.”

(Holbrook,

1997)

Decision Points for Majoringin the Geosciences

Wilson, C., 2013,Status of Recent

Geoscience Graduates: AGI

SUNY Oneonta’sEarth Science Outreach Program

(ESOP) • Dual Credit Geosciences - response to no AP Geoscience

• 2003-04: 2 Schools• 2012-13: 15 Schools in NY, PA and VA– Intro Geology: 163 students– Intro Oceanography: 41 students – Intro Meteorology: 36 students– Intro Astronomy: 3 students

• 2013-14: 17 Schools in NY, PA, VA, NJ

– 4 new schools; 4 schools inactive

Why Do Students Choose Dual Credit Courses? Most Important Factors

• Interest in Topic : 57%

• Interested in Studying Geoscience in College: 23%

• Peer Recommendation: 19%

• Reputation of ESOP Teacher: 9%

Data from 2010 SurveyN = 168

Post Course Survey• Reasons for taking

the ESOP course were not significantly different from the pre-course survey

• Dual Credit Geoscience Courses Preserve Student Interest in the Geosciences.Post Course Survey, 2011 N = 47

Pennsylvania Case Study• Upper Dublin High School (Montgomery Co.)

• Advanced Geosciences courses since 2000

– Dual Credit in 2010

• Study involved 89 students in 2 study groups

– Adv. Geoscience (AGS) N=42

– AP science but no AGS N=47• Asked variety of questions about geoscience

perception and academic science experience

Pennsylvania Case Study Findings

• No statistically significant differences

in demographics including:

– Grade point average

– Post secondary plans

– Parents in science fields

– Interest in science field(s)

Pennsylvania Case Study Findings• Statistically significant differences in

several key geoscience perceptions:

– AP students view geosciences as lower

academic difficulty and reputation

– AP students view geosciences as low

paying and low prestige

– AP students view job market as poor and

report not understanding the career field

Pennsylvania Case Study Findings

PA Geoscience Inventory (2012)

• 572 public high

schools

• 500 districts

• 548,000 students

• 33 schools with

advanced courses (54

courses)

• Mostly suburban

• ~43,000 students had

access (7.8%)

• Only 2 schools offered

dual credit option

(.005% of students)

548,000

43,0003,000

Conclusions

• Students’ Choice of a Science Major Correlates with Exposure to that Science in High School.

• Most Students Choose a Major before Leaving High School.

Conclusions• Most Potential Majors

Self-Select out in High School – Impact on Recruiting from On-Campus Intro Courses

• Dual Credit Courses Increase the Likelihood that Students Will Choose a Geoscience Major in College.

• Dual Credit Geoscience Courses Preserve Student Interest

Conclusions• Students in Dual Credit

Geoscience Courses are Better Informed Regarding Careers

• Students Prefer Dual Credit to AP Courses

• Students Likely to Major in Geoscience: 23 % - 38% of Dual Credit vs. 2% of AP Students

Acknowledgements

• ESOP Teachers and Students

• SUNY Oneonta President Nancy

Kleniewski

• NSF – Award # 1035062