GP-EXTRA: Establishing high-impact curriculum to attract and retain students in a new environmental geology program

第1部分IUSE：GEOPATHS试点项目包括相关的夏季野外课程体验和随后的秋季基于研究的课程，以帮助吸引和留住学生进入佛罗里达州墨西哥湾沿岸大学(FGCU)的一个新的环境地质学学士学位课程。暑期实地体验和基于研究的课程通过内容联系在一起，并采用高影响力的实践。在招聘过程中，将以西班牙裔和女性学生为目标，解决多样性问题。这将有助于增加地质学专业传统上代表性不足的学生。实地课程将把学生带到巴哈马群岛，帮助克服佛罗里达海岸平原的地形限制。实地考察课程的目的是加强学生对地质学的兴趣，并加强他们与队列的联系。这一试点项目将有助于增加关于野外经验的好处的知识，吸引和留住学生进入地质学专业。它还将测试一些知识，这些知识表明，接触和参与研究可以吸引、留住和支持STEM专业的学生。这笔赠款的评估将由FGCU惠特克STEM教育中心进行。评估将有助于通过形成性和总结性评估来实现这项建议的目标。第2部分：国际教育、科学及文化组织：GEOPATHS试点项目由相关的夏季实地考察课程和随后的秋季研究课程组成。暑期实地课程经验将包括较低水平的学习，通过实地研究经验发展为较高水平的学习。学习将继续到秋季基于研究的课程，让学生参与几个基于短期课程的本科生研究体验(CURE)，这些体验是在实地课程内容的基础上建立起来的。该项目的目标是从普通教育地质学课程招募的女性和西班牙裔学生。现场课程体验和以下以研究为基础的高年级课程的具体目标是：1)吸引学生进入新的环境地质学学士专业；2)在这个新专业创造一个多样化的学生群体；3)留住这个环境地质学专业的学生和研究生；4)增加学生的自信心和学习；5)提供急需的评估，以衡量实地课程和基于课程的本科生研究经验的有效性。这个试点项目有能力培养一批多样化的地球科学毕业生，他们可以在未来几年满足地球科学劳动力的需求。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Part 1This IUSE:GEOPATHS pilot project consist of a linked summer field course experience and subsequent fall research-based course to help attract and retain students into a new Environmental Geology B.S. program at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). The summer field experiences and research-based course are linked through content and employ high-impact practices. Diversity will be addressed by targeting Hispanic and female students during recruitment. This will help to increase traditionally underrepresented students in geology majors. The field course will help overcome the physiographic limitations of the Florida Coastal Plain, by bringing students to the Bahamas. The field course is intended to strengthening students' interest in geology and their connections to a cohort. This pilot project will help increase knowledge which deals with the benefits of field experiences attracting and retaining students into geology majors. It will also test the knowledge that suggests exposing and engaging undergraduates in research attracts, retains, and sustains students in STEM majors. The evaluation of this grant will be conducted by the FGCU Whitaker Center for STEM Education. The evaluation will help achieve the goals of this proposal through formative and summative assessment.Part 2This IUSE: GEOPATHS pilot project consist of a linked summer field course experience and subsequent fall research-based course. The summer field course experience will consist of lower-level learning that builds towards higher-level learning through field-based research experiences. Learning will continue into the fall research-based course by engaging the students in several, short course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that build off of the field course content. This project targets female and Hispanic students recruited from general education geology courses. The specific goals of the field course experience and the following research-based upper division courses are to: 1) attract students to the new Environmental Geology B.S. major; 2) create a diverse student population in this new major; 3) retain and graduate students from this Environmental Geology major; 4) increase student self-confidence and learning; and 5) provide much needed assessment to measure the effectiveness of both field courses and course-based undergraduate research experiences. This pilot project has the ability to create a diverse pipeline of geoscience graduates who can fill the geoscience workforce needs in the coming years.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.