From High School Students to College Geoscience Majors: The Critical Math Connection

GeoFORCE Texas Critical Math Connection针对的是一群对大学地质学专业有浓厚兴趣的高三和高年级学生，并为他们在高中期间提供关键干预措施，以1)提高他们的数学知识、信心和准备，以及2)参与他们的地球科学问题解决技能。目标学生是一项名为德克萨斯州GeoFORCE的高中推广计划的参与者。该群体82%是少数族裔，来自德克萨斯州西南部农村和休斯敦市中心的有困难的学校。虽然GeoFORCE让他们对地球科学产生了浓厚的兴趣，但他们的高中让他们对大学水平的数学准备不足。这个项目正在调查两个关键的研究问题：1.地学专业学生的坚持性是否会受到高中数学准备的提高的影响？2.一个引人入胜的地质学问题能否保持人们对地学的兴趣，并被证明是推动学生从喜欢地质学转向地质学专业的关键事件？预计这些活动一起将导致从高中到大学地质学专业的更容易的途径，这将在保持和持久性数据中得到反映。最终，该项目寻求确定一种有效的模式，让更多的少数族裔青年参与地球科学。

The GeoFORCE Texas Critical Math Connection targets a group of high school juniors and seniors who have a strong interest in majoring in geology in college, and provides them with critical interventions while in high school in order to 1) improve their math knowledge, confidence, and preparedness, and 2) engage their geoscience problem solving skills. The target students are participants in a high school outreach program called GeoFORCE Texas. The group is 82% minority, from challenged schools in rural southwest Texas and inner-city Houston. While GeoFORCE gives them a strong interest in geosciences, their high schools leave them poorly prepared for college level math. This project is investigating two critical research questions: 1. Can the persistence of students in geoscience majors be affected by improving math preparedness in high school? 2. Can an engaging geologic problem sustain interest in the geosciences and prove to be a critical incident in moving students from liking geology to majoring in geology? It is expected that together these activities will result in an easier path from high school into a college geology major, and that this will be reflected in retention and persistence data. Ultimately, the project seeks to identify an effective model for engaging more minority youth in the geosciences.