This project is examining connections between the affective domain and the cognitive domain for thousands of students in introductory geoscience courses at 8-10 colleges and universities across the United States. These institutions include large research universities, comprehensive universities, small liberal arts colleges and two-year community colleges. GARNET - the Geoscience Affective Research NETwork - is promoting excellence in STEM teaching and learning by examining how students' learning is influenced by their "affective characteristics" (motivation, attitudes, values, beliefs, etc.) and by pedagogical strategies designed to help support student learning and interest in the content. GARNET is helping to fill a little studied, yet highly significant gap in our understanding of student learning of science, by asking "how do students' motivations and beliefs about their learning skills influence their understanding of course content?" This project is integrating research and education by providing fundamental data about the role of the affective domain in learning, while simultaneously helping students develop better learning skills. The project is building on the results of a previous collaborative GARNET project that tested two key hypotheses: (1) the affective domain has a major influence on student learning; and (2) different teaching methods significantly influence student affect and, consequently, learning. Results of that previous project revealed that learning beliefs, such as self-efficacy, were related to student performance but that the use of different instructional strategies had minimal impact on students' affective constructs. This project is moving the original GARNET focus away from what instructors do to improve learning, to study "what students do" to modify their own affect and improve their abilities to learn. The affective domain is linked to a four-stage self-regulated learning cycle that instructors are using to train students to monitor and regulate their affective constructs, and are measuring and evaluating the associated impact on student learning. On the basis of such findings, the project is developing affect-based pedagogical resources and strategies that will allow instructors to develop better introductory geoscience classes and improve student engagement, attitude, and ultimately, learning across a variety of STEM fields.
This multi-institution project examined how students' affect (i.e., beliefs about learning, motivation to learn, confidence in the ability to learn, and attitudes toward learning) impact their performance in introductory geology courses. The study was done at large universities, small liberal arts colleges, and two-year community colleges. Student surveys determined how various interventions (e.g., teaching strategies, tools, and assingments) changed students' affect, their use of effective learning strategies, and their performance in introductory geology classes. The project also made systematic observations of the classroom environment and teaching style in order to explore the effect of those variables on student affect and performance. Funding to the University of Colorado was primarily for the later purpose. A major finding of the study is that students' attitudes and motivations decline over the course of a semester with or without the learning interventions. However, at CU-Boulder we found smaller declines with the interventions than without them. More students sensed that they were in control of their learning, were more likely to be reflective about their learning, and expressed more self-confidence in their ability to learn. Yet not all students were impacted in a similar manner. The top quarter of each class (as measured by grade) was the most impacted. The interventions also had only a small impact on students' performance (grades) and that impact may have been due to greater time working on the course material rather than a change in students' affect. In terms of classroom teaching styles, the study documented a wide variation in teaching styles in introductory geology course in US universities, colleges, and community colleges. Styles ranged from teacher-centered, traditional lecture-dominated classrooms to classrooms characterized by actively engaged students who constructed their own learning. We showed that the progression from teacher-centered to student-centered classrooms occurs across a broad spectrum of incremental changes in lesson design and implementation, utilization of student-student interactions, and development of productive student-teacher communications. A scoring rubric developed for the classroom observations creates the potential for geoscience faculty to use the observation tool and rubric for multiple applications beyond research. These include guiding course planning, facilitating self-reflection on teaching, and assisting in the constructive peer evaluation of colleague's teaching. This study is the first in any discipline to compare a diverse array of student values, beliefs, and learning strategies across the same general education science course at a variety of institutions. Thus, the results provide a foundation and comparative baseline for future researchers exploring the affective domain in all science disciplines. It will be useful to cognitive psychologists and learning scientists who study the links between learning, motivation, attitudes, learning strategies, and other affective characteristics. The data on classroom practices also provide a holistic "road map" for all types of science instructors seeking to transform their classroom teaching and to incorporate student affect in their classroom planning.
