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Conceptualizations of earth's surficial systems pose challenges to scientists, novice teachers, and students alike, because they are variable, non-linear, and dynamic. Developing scientific models of these systems allow users to visualize, manipulate, reason, and organize knowledge about the system under investigation. This dissertation is focused on two research strands using scientific modeling of surficial earth systems. The first strand is focused on a coastal ecosystem impacted by soil salinization and water availability. This study used topography, soil type, soil conductivity, and plant community to develop a conceptualized toposequence of this region to support our understanding of the dominant source of soil salinity. The second strand is twofold: novice understanding of scientific modeling and conceptual model development. The first study evaluates novice science teachers' approach to scientific modeling of a system which they have no prior knowledge about. Through observations, we assessed their science process skills, compared these results to novices and experts working with the same system, and found that novice teachers perform more like novices when faced with scientific investigations. This research will guide future teacher professional development programs to explicitly focus on science process skills and their role in scientific modeling. The second study characterizes the impact of an inquiry-based learning (IBL) module versus a traditionally structured laboratory exercise. The experimental groups were taught using IBL pedagogical techniques through manipulation of large-scale data sets, multiple representations, and a physical model. The control groups were taught traditionally. The groups were not significantly different prior to exposure to the lesson. Pre/post-expressed conceptual models indicate that the experimental group had greater increases in critical thinking. Written reports indicated they further gained in content knowledge, communication of findings, and experimental design. Overall results showed that teaching though IBL coupled with multiple representations had significant positive influence on student's conceptual model development. This synergistic dissertation between science and science education is a model for those wanting to pursue an academic career in geoscience education. This type of synergy between teaching and research allows for greater achievement in and outside the classroom ultimately improving overall education.

In relation to the constructivist learning theory, understanding what a student may already know in order to use this knowledge as a scaffold for further education is imperative. The online classroom offers a unique and challenging environment for the evaluation of a student’s previous knowledge, especially in the field of geosciences where knowledge may be associated with geographic affiliation. An individual’s geological and meteorological sense of place may play an important role in evaluating a student’s previous knowledge in this field of study. To test this hypothesis, students in an online master’s program were given pre-knowledge surveys to evaluate their previous knowledge in Meteorology and Geology, as well as Geological and Meteorological sense of place surveys (Clary, R.M., and Wandersee, J.H., 2006; Clary, R.M., Wandersee, J.H., and Sumrall, J.L., 2013). Students were then categorized by geographic regions within the United States. Students were also given interest surveys at the end of their first year in the Masters program, and selected students were interviewed during their capstone field experience at the end of the second year of the program. Results suggest that there were subtle differences between regional groups of students throughout the study. More pronounced differences were noticed in the Meteorological pre-surveys than the Geological pre-surveys. Both sense of place surveys also indicated differences across regions, but the Meteorological sense of place survey showed greater regional differences when individual questions were analyzed. Interestingly, the participants who were interviewed at the end of the Masters program showed more geologically specific attachments as opposed to meteorologically specific attachments to areas that they considered to be “home.” The importance of moving and traveling throughout one’s life also became evident during the analysis of the interviews. Overall, this study of an online Master’s program concludes that geographic differences and moving/travel experiences among students matters to education in an online setting. The study emphasizes the importance for online instructors to evaluate teaching techniques based on geological and meteorological sense of place. By taking this into account in an online classroom, geographic disparities could be minimized and content interest levels could be increased.

Recent meetings and publications have discussed what geoscience undergraduates should learn for professional success, and among other items, have identified several quantitative skills and habits of mind as being necessary for geoscience students; many of these items are commonly associated with Quantitative Literacy (QL). The Computational Geology course in the geology department has been evolving at USF for 20 years. The course teaches QL in a geologic setting independent of specific core geology topics. This course has long preceded the national acknowledgment of the need for what it teaches within the field. As the first of a series of related studies intended to find the effect and role of this course within the geoscience community, this thesis study begins as a qualitative narrative inquiry of course and program alumni. In the study reported here ten USF Geology alumni from a variety of career paths who took GLY 4866 between 1997 to 2013 underwent semi-structured interviews recounting their memories of the course, discussing the benefits to them of the course in their careers, and outlining their views of what students should gain from this course for professional success. The interview results illuminate trends that can be usefully grouped by job/career category. Regulators (3) had the shortest overall interview time, remembered the least in terms of specific events from the course, and had limited (but consistent) suggestions for student learning. Their memories and suggestions were also rarely unique. Consultants (3) were the median group in length, and showed overlap in the content of their interviews to regulators, with additional details added. Academics (4) had the longest interview times, the most detailed memories from the course, and the most suggestions, possibly due to these interviewees using similar methods in their later careers as course instructors. Consultants and academics related large blocks of story text that were unique while also relating common statements. Narratives from professionally successful alumni were sought to gain greater detail on the likely impact of Computational Geology than surveys are likely to give. The responses of selected, successful alumni were also sought to help refine questions that are to be used later in surveys of a larger sample population of alumni and to a larger national audience of geoscientists regarding their undergraduate programs and how those programs prepared them with quantitative skills. The information that interview subjects provided about the educational needs for successful entry-level geology professionals were shaped into a series of suggestions for course and program improvement. Course and program improvement suggestions and questions for a proposed survey have been assembled both to improve the GLY 4866 offering at USF for broader dissemination and to contribute to broader discussion of strategies for improving the quantitative skills and learning of geoscientists.

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The six subsystems of Earth (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, cryosphere and anthroposphere) are complex and dynamic. Because all subsystems are linked, study from an independent perspective and a composite perspective is fundamental. Unfortunately, because of current instructional methods, students tend to consider these systems unrelated and use linear cause and effect models where little to no interaction occurs between different systems and the components. The simplistic and incorrect view of systems is the fundamental reason more education about Earth systems science is necessary in the K-12 curriculum. In this study, the Cause-MaP system of studying complex Earth systems in a private intermediate school in Texas was evaluated. The objective was to ensure that students are more aware of how Earth affects them and vice versa. An added benefit of the study was the opportunity to teach scientific reasoning. Students completed a pre-unit test to measure a priori knowledge. The students then worked through a modified Cause-MaP system in which they took notes in a structured table format; then each created a concept map. Students completed these steps for two subsystems: hydrosphere and lithosphere. The individual concept maps were used to assess knowledge and understanding of the individual systems by each student. At the end of the unit, students created composite concept maps which included each system they studied in this unit, to illustrate the interconnectedness of Earth systems. Based on the number of components and processes included, the students’ maps were evaluated to determine their understanding of the interactions between multiple Earth systems. The students’ maps were grouped based on the number of components and processes included in the concept maps. A post-unit test was also administered, which included two similar questions. The pre-unit test was completed again to check the overall progress of the students involved in this study. The students showed, with practice and encouragement from their instructor, that they recognize intersystem connections in complex Earth systems. With more integration of programs like these, students will become more proficient in recognizing system interactions.

Physical Geology is a popular general education course at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) as at many other colleges and universities. Unlike many science courses, most students taking Physical Geology are not majoring in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) discipline. Typically most students enrolled in Physical Geology are majoring in business, education, or pursuing a general A.A degree for transfer to a four-year university. The class is likely to be one of the few, if not the only, physical science classes that many of these students will take in their academic career. Therefore, this class takes on increased importance, as it will provide students with the foundation for scientific knowledge to be applied throughout their working careers. Student performance in an online general education physical geology course was examined and compared in this three and a half-year study involving over 700 students. Student performance was compared on the basis of term length (sixteen week semester versus nine week summer term) and delivery method (online versus face-to-face). Four identical tests were given each term; the average score of four tests was used to evaluate overall student performance. Neither term length or delivery method has a significant influence on student test scores as demonstrated by similar average score per term, similar standard deviation, and similar distribution pattern. Student score distribution follows a normal distribution reasonably well. The commonly used ANOVA tests were conducted to confirm that there is no statistically significant difference in student performance. A concept inventory of the geosciences can be valuable in providing a means to test if students are indeed learning geological concepts and to identify which misconceptions students are likely to enter class with so they can be addressed. Based on a set of 16 Geoscience Concept Inventory questions selected by the instructor, no difference in student performance was found between pre-test and post-test in terms of average score and score distribution. Some misconceptions were identified by the GCI, however little to no improvement was noted in the post-test. In contrast to the GCI, remarkable improvement in student learning is illustrated by the instructor-specific test. Possible reasons for this result are as follows, students may have adapted more to the individual instructor's test writing style and teaching style throughout the semester. The pre-test and post-test for the instructor given tests were assigned as a grade, perhaps prompting the student to take the test more seriously and consider the answers more carefully. The questions written are instructor-specific and course-specific, meaning that the students likely were introduced to the concept more thoroughly and multiple times.

This dissertation encompasses two studies: one developing virtual field trips for mobile devices for an innovative approach to lower-division geoscience education, and the other examining the role of rock strength in river erosion and landscape evolution. The education study involves the development of three virtual field trip modules (Geologic Time, Geologic Structures, and Hydrologic Processes, all free on iTunes and Google Play) that lead students down a virtual Colorado River through Grand Canyon by physically moving around their campus quad, football field or other location, using their GPS-equipped smart phone or tablet. As students reach each location in the scaled down and geo-referenced virtual Grand Canyon, an informative video appears with a themed geological question and an interactive touchscreen activity. The effectiveness of these three modules in terms of student engagement and learning was tested at five U.S. Colleges with a range of missions and student demographics. Results show that the virtual field trip modules are effective at increasing student interest across races and genders in the geosciences, do not detract from student learning, and have the potential to increase content comprehension. The second study is the examination of the relation between rock strength and topography in the Colorado Plateau. This work contributes empirical data to the age-old debate over the mechanisms and patterns of stream erosion through statistical relations between rock strength and stream power, river steepness, and valley width along the Green-Colorado River system. Estimates of an “effective” tensile strength were calculated for units too incompetent to test directly, such as the shales prevalent in the region. Results indicate bedrock strength is a first-order control on river erosion in this landscape, as suggested by John Wesley Powell in 1896: “where the rocks are firm and stable, corrasion [sic] of the stream is slow; where the rocks are soft, corrasion [sic] is more rapid,” which is intuitive yet frequently overlooked.

The Mississippi State University leaderSTATE STEM program provides a variety of experiences for Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) high school cadets across three states: Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, the majority from underrepresented demographic populations. LeaderSTATE STEM offers 5-day residential summer camps (N=6) for over 300 students annually. The camps utilize a variety of geosciences STEM activities to increase students' awareness of science and opportunities in geoscience careers. To evaluate the effectiveness of student attitudes towards science, the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) instrument was used to ascertain changes in attitudes about science and society. Paired pre-post TOSRA survey results from 2014-2017 camp cycles (N= 1141 students) were analyzed for race, gender, and school correlations. Chi square analysis revealed only a scattered statistical improvement throughout the data (p = 0.05). More research is needed to determine whether the 5-day experience is too limited to result in high school students' attitudinal changes towards science, or whether the TOSRA instrument provides an appropriate assessment for the leaderSTATE STEM camps. A secondary assessment instrument was employed pre- and post-camp to ascertain the abilities of the students in their interpretation of graphically displayed data. That instrument assessed changes in the students' abilities in understanding basic data terminology and interpretation of data shown on graphs. Assessment was performed with a pre-camp - post-camp survey and analysis of change determined with a paired t-test with Cohen's d to determine effect size. A significant p value below 0.05 was determined for only one of six camps in 2016, and for three of six camps in 2017. In both years, Cohen's d effect size was small for two of six camps annually, and medium for all other camps. A follow-on weather data project was developed for, and implemented with, the students in the JROTC programs in the seven schools in the Jackson, Mississippi school district. That month-long project was an extension of topics introduced in the leaderSTATE summer camp program. Two schools performed well in both years of the project, two schools performed in the mid-range, and three schools underperformed in both years of the project.

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