Future of Undergraduate Geoscience Education Summit; January 2014

Participants

About 200 educators representing a broad spectrum of the undergraduate geoscience education community:

• R1, R2, and R3 research universities with undergraduate programs, doctoral/professional universities, terminal master’s programs, 4‐year private and state colleges and 2‐year community colleges

• Faculty, heads & chairs, education researchers

• Industry & professional society representatives

• Working in small groups with collective presentations

Outcomes

• Collective agreement on most points

• Online survey developed to assess larger community views and status of community efforts.

• Many questions were designed for academics and non‐academics did not see those pertaining only to departments.

Demographics of the 2014–2015 Survey

• 463 respondents

  • 68 were participants in the Summit (15%)

  • 357 Academics (77%)

  • 79 Industry (17%; 47 energy/oil/gas, 21 mining/minerals exploration, 11 environmental/hydrogeology/engineering)

  • 14 Government (3%)

  • 7 Other (1.5%)

  • 5 Professional Society Representatives (1%)

  • 315 Male (68%)

  • 148 Female (32%)

• Ethnicity

  • 91% White/Caucasian

  • 2% Hispanic

  • 1% Asian

  • 1% American Indian/Alaska Native

  • 5% Other

  • 0% Black/African American and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander

  • In all reported results, all non‐academics are listed as employers.

Academic Demographics

• Department Faculty size

  • 19% under 5

  • 31% 5–12

  • 21% 12–20

  • 12% 20–30

  • 17% over 30

• Institution type

  • 16% 2-year community colleges

  • 12% 4-year private

  • 30% 4-year state

  • 34% public research universities

  • 7% private research universities

  • 1% Hispanic-Serving Institution

• Position

  • 10% nontenure track/adjunct

  • 11% assistant professor

  • 23% associate professor

  • 40% professor

  • 11% department chair/head

  • 4% dean or upper administration

Education Emphasis

For Undergraduate Geoscience Education

Importance of Teaching Key Geoscience Concepts

Concept Importance Breakdowns by Respondent Employment Category

Critical Undergraduate Skills and Competencies

Skills Importance Breakdowns by Respondent Employment Category

Assessment of Departmental Views

Is your department interested in making changes to your undergraduate curriculum to focus on competencies, skills, and conceptual understanding?

Is the development of your institution’s undergraduate curriculum, in terms of competencies, skills, or conceptual understanding, regulated at any institutional, local, or state levels?

Does your institution track Student Learning Outcomes or other metrics of student success with in your department?

Opportunities and Activities Available to Undergraduates

Breakdowns of Activity Availability by Institution Type

Teaching Methods Used by Faculty

Breakdowns of Teaching Methods by Institution Type

Notation: 2YC is 2-Year College; 4YC is 4-Year College; RU is Research University

Technology Used in Teaching

Use of Validated Teaching Strategies

Is your department interested in making changes to how teaching is done at the undergraduate level?

Obstacles/Barriers Identified by Summit to Implementing Research‑Validated Pedagogies and Uses of Technology

Breakdowns of Impacts by Academic Rank

Professional Development and K–12 Teacher Training

Does your department/company/organization sponsor, partner with or have any professional development programs for in‐service K–12 teachers?

Efforts Toward Student Diversity and Broad Participation

Does your department/company/organization have or plan on any systematic efforts to encourage broadening participation and retention of a more diverse student population?

Does your department/company/organization track the participation and retention of minorities in your population?