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Self Efficacy as a Learning Tool in General Education Introductory Geology

A large historical geology class (134 students) An active learning exercise

Preliminary results

Giuseppina A. Kysar Mattietti Center for Teaching Excellence - College of Science

gkysar@gmu.edu

Erin E. PetersCollege of Education and Human Development

Epeters1@gmu.edu

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Rationale

Two goals:

• to provide students with an active and reflective approach to learning / exam preparation

• to give the instructor a view of the cognitive level achieved by the class as a whole and of misconceptions developing on the topics of the exercise.

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The Reflective approach: Self-efficacy

People’s belief about their ability to be successful in their display of knowledge or skills (Bandura, 1994)

• Self-efficacy is always domain related• It doesn’t necessarily align with reality• It drives future behavior in the disciplines

– Increases motivation to learn– Motivates to further studies in the discipline– It promotes taking challenges doing research

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The mini-self assessment exercise

Which layers are the same? Why do you say so?

What do the fossils in these rocks indicate about the geologic time when these rocks formed?

What is the correct sequence of rock layer from oldest to youngest? Mark the Unconformity with an arrow

Why did you place the arrow there? What does the unconformity indicate about the geologic history represented by these two stratigraphic columns?

Can these rocks give you information on the absolute age of their formation?

Why yes or why not?

Confidence level:3 = absolutely sure2 = I think so1 = I am guessing

Super-Short Written Answers to these questions:

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Research Questions

• How proficient are undergraduate students in applying their understanding of correlation and geologic time?

• How confident are undergraduate students in applying their understanding of correlation and geologic time?

• Are there any patterns linking levels of cognition and confidence levels?

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Means Question Mean for Correct

Answer (range 0-3)Mean for Self-Efficacy

(range 1-3)

Which layers are same?

2.75 2.68

*Why are layers the same? 2.43 2.63

*Faunal succession/ correlation/ Geologic Time

1.35 2.37

*Sequence of events 2.72 2.31

*Label Unconformity 2.80 2.54

*WhyUnconformity? 1.98 2.37

*Geologic History 1.17 2.10

*Absolute Age 1.04 2.48

*Why Absolute Age? .64 2.34

* Significant differences between means

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Comparison of Differences of Means

Question t-value Significance

Which layers are same? -.91 .37

Why are layers the same? 2.19 .03*

Faunal succession/ correlation/ Geologic Time

10.31 .00*

Sequence -4.08 .00*

Label Unconformity -2.42 .02*

Why Unconformity? 2.71 .01*

Geologic History 9.04 .00*

Absolute Age 9.10 .00*

Why Absolute Age? 16.15 .00*

* Significant differences between means

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Confidence and Performance

• Higher confidence in divergent answers regardless of knowledge

–Satisfied as long as they had one portion of the answer

• Low confidence in convergent answers regardless of knowledge

–Translating knowledge into conventional science symbols-language is more challenging.

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Implications for teaching and learning

• More practice in elaborating and synthesizing knowledge for deep learning

• Need to engage large lecture classes in active learning

• Identify and treat misconceptions• Show that science is more than “One-answer” • Build more self-reflection practice• Know when the large class is ready to push

forward or slow the pace

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Thank you!Thank you!

We welcome your questions and comments: gkysar@gmu.edu, epeters1@gmu.edu