GeoConnections: Evaluating the Impact of Place-Based, Culturally-Relevant Geoscience Learning Modules on Undergraduate Students' Connections to Geoscience Concepts and Careers

GeoConnections是一个研究项目，旨在测试这样一种观点，即在地质学入门课程中加入文化相关性将增加本科生与地球科学概念和职业的联系。印第安纳州普渡大学（Purdue University）和华盛顿传统大学（Heritage University）的研究人员将通过开发和评估围绕美国原住民学生的文化联系而开展的地质活动的影响，来验证这一观点。虽然对美洲原住民对地球科学的理解进行了一些研究，但很少强调认识和利用土著学生在其传统文化和西方科学之间建立的共同联系。因此，这项研究的一个关键要素是确定美洲原住民学生在入门地质学概念与他们的日常生活和文化传统之间建立的联系。研究人员将把这些联系运用到修改后的地质学活动中，这些活动将与学生所经历的文化和地理感觉联系起来。这使得研究人员能够评估在多大程度上增强地质学入门活动的文化相关性，从而增加本科生与地球科学概念和职业的联系。这种方法可以用于其他学生群体及其与地质概念的文化联系。GeoConnections项目将开发和评估基于文化和地质联系的地球科学教育模块（GEMs）。GEMs也是根据地球科学教师和美国原住民本科生的教育需求创建的，作为通过元认知和反身教学法创造变革性学习体验的指导重点。通过收集和分析代表性不足和大多数学生在参与GEMs之前和之后对地球科学概念和职业的知识和概念的定量和定性数据，研究人员将对在本科地质学教学中纳入文化相关教育模块的影响进行三角测量。这将在各种教育环境中增加对美洲原住民科学观的集体知识，并根据美洲原住民学生通过其个人文化发现西方科学概念的相关性的方式，增强对教育影响的理解。这对印第安学生来说可能是有价值的，因为他们以前无法轻易地在西方地球科学概念中找到文化相关性，并且可能提供一个适应性和可扩展的模型，以弥合代表性不足的群体的教育经验与为不同人口创造公平学习环境的总体目标之间的差距。

GeoConnections is a research project designed to test the idea that including cultural relevance in introductory geology lessons will increase undergraduate students' connections to geoscience concepts and careers. Researchers from Purdue University in Indiana and Heritage University in Washington will test this idea by developing and assessing the impacts of geology activities built around cultural connections for Native American students. While some research has been conducted on Native Americans' understandings of geoscience, there has been less emphasis on recognizing and leveraging common connections Native students make between their traditional cultures and Western science. Thus, a key element of this research is to identify connections Native American students make between introductory geology concepts and their everyday lives and cultural traditions. The researchers will use these connections in modified geology activities that connect to the cultural as well as geographical sense of place experienced by students. This allows the researchers to assess the degree to which enhancing the cultural relevance of introductory geology activities increases undergraduate students' connections to geoscience concepts and careers. This approach may then be used with other student groups and their cultural connections to geologic concepts. The GeoConnections project will develop and assess Geoscience Education Modules (GEMs), which are based on cultural and geological connections. The GEMs are also created with the educational needs of geoscience instructors and Native American undergraduate students as a guiding focus for creating transformative learning experiences through metacognitive and reflexive pedagogies. By collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data on underrepresented and majority students' knowledge and conceptions of geoscience concepts and careers, both pre- and post-involvement in GEMs, the researchers will triangulate the impacts of including culturally relevant educational modules in undergraduate geology instruction. This will increase the collective knowledge of Native American views of science within a variety of educational settings and enhance understanding of the impacts of education based on ways that Native American students find relevance in Western scientific concepts through their individual cultures. This has the potential to be valuable to Native American students who have previously been unable to easily find cultural relevance in Western geoscientific concepts, and may provide an adaptable and expandable model to bridge the gap between the educational experiences of underrepresented groups and the overarching goal to create an equitable learning environment for diverse populations.