Who wants to be a GEESer?

Perceptions of the GEES disciplines

Helen King & Alison Stokes

Background

• Increasing exposure of GEES disciplines in the media

• This does not appear to translate into increasing demand for student places

• WHY?

Perceptions of GEES disciplines

• On the form provided cross through the box which corresponds to your own discipline or area of expertise.

• You have 30 seconds left…….

• You have 2 minutes to write down as many words as you can think of relating to the remaining discipline(s).

Perceptions of GEES disciplines

• Study 1: School student perceptions of the GEES disciplines (GEES)– Piloted on 10 schools in south Wales (Years 7, 10 & 12)– Revised questionnaire to 10 further schools (Year 12 only)– Total sample size of 946 students in across 20 schools

• Study 2: Undergraduate student and staff conceptions in environmental and natural sciences (Experiential Learning CETL)– University of Plymouth students and staff in GEES disciplines– 650 undergrads and 44 academic staff (~70% of total)– Longitudinal study running until 2009-2010

Research questions

• Study 2 (CETL): What do you think geography / geology / environmental science is about or concerned with?

• Study 1 (GEES): Geography / geology / environmental science: what do you think this is all about?

School students: geography

“I think that geography is about the world e.g. population, planets, rocks the sea and the weather. It is also split into human, physical and the environment” (Year 10)

“I think it is all about maps and weather. Learning about countrys [sic]” (Year 7)

“The study of the physical and human processes of the earth” (Year 12)

“The study of the earth – natural issues, people in the environment and how they affect each other” (Year 12)

Undergrads & academic staff: geography

“The interconnections between the physical aspects of the world and the people who live on it” (Stage 2)

“The world and everything in it. Concerning people as well as natural things” (Stage 1)

“The relationship between people and places over space and time” (Stage 3)

“Where things are and why they’re there. The distribution of phenomena across space, and activities occurring within, and relating to, particular place/space” (Staff)

School students: geology

“Studying rocks” (all Years)

“Rocks” (all Years)

“Rocks and volcanoes” (Year 7)

“The study of rocks mineral that make up the world and how the earth is made and proceses [sic] in the earth” (Year 12)

Undergrads & academic staff: geology

“The earth and earth systems focusing on rocks and its industrial application” (Stage 2)

“Nature of the earth, it’s history and about how it is changing” (Stage 1)

“The processes that exist on the planet. To understand them and to apply the knowledge for conservation of the earth in the future” (Stage 3)

“Geology is concerned with understanding the physical processes that have created the planet earth” (Staff)

School students: environmental science

“I think its about pollution and how things affect us” (Year 7)

“The environment” (all Years)

“Its about science and environment around us” (Year 10)

“Dur. The science of the environment” (Year 12)

Undergrads & academic staff: environmental science

“The study of the environment and how everything interacts. Especially the role of man and the environment.” (Stage 2)

“Environmental science is concerned with the state of our planet, problems and possible solutions.” (Stage 1)

“Studying, understanding, monitoring & preserving the natural world of earth and how human activity influences it.” (Stage 3)

“To develop an understanding of the way in which environmental systems work using the integration of scientific theories as well as socio economic concepts” (Staff)

Year 7, 10 & 12 students: geography

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

The world

Physic

al &

hum

an

Issu

es

Proce

sses

Map

s

Weat

her

Physic

al e

nviro

nmen

t

Place

s

People

People

& p

lace

s

Inte

ract

ion:

hum

an & p

hysic

al

Spatia

l pat

tern

s

Don't k

now /

no resp

onse

% r

esp

on

se (

mea

n)

Year 7 (n=165) Year 10 (n=117) Year 12 (n=110)

Undergrads & academic staff: geography

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

World Human &physical w orld

Social and/orenv issues

Processes Human/ envtinteraction

Spatialpatterns

Temporalpatterns/change

Areal diff 'n/people &places

% r

esp

on

se

Stage 1 (n=97) Stage 2 (n=127) Stage 3 (n=92) Staff (n=19)

Year 7, 10 & 12 students: geology

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Rocks

Earth

Earth

pro

cess

es

Volcan

oes

Solar s

yste

m

Earth

quakes

Map

s

Humans

Fossils

Don't k

now /

no resp

onse

% r

es

po

ns

e (

me

an

)

Year 7 (n=165) Year 10 (n=117) Year 12 (n=110)

Year 12 students: geology

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Rocks

Earth

Earth

pro

cess

es

Earth

thro

ugh ti

me

Volcan

oes

Earth

quakes

Fossils

Fossil

fuels

Don't k

now /

no resp

onse

% r

es

po

ns

e (

me

an

)

Geography A-level (n=141) Geology A-level (n=19) Non-geo A-level (n=371)

Undergrads & academic staff: geology

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Rocks Earth Earth throughtime

Earth processes Earth systems Human and/orenvt'l concerns

Interdisciplinary

% r

es

po

ns

e

Stage 1 (n=51) Stage 2 (n=44) Stage 3 (n=37) Staff (n=13)

Year 7, 10 & 12 students: environmental science

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Enviro

nmen

t

Nature

Pollutio

n

Care

of e

nviro

nmen

t

Issu

es

Chemic

al

People

/ ea

rth in

tera

ctio

n

Health

& s

afet

y

Scien

ce

Natura

l haz

ards

Weat

her

Proce

sses

Scien

ce & e

nviro

nmen

t

Don't k

now /

no resp

onse

% r

es

po

ns

e (

me

an

)

Year 7 (n=165) Year 10 (n=117) Year 12 (n=110)

Undergrads & academic staff: environmental science

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Environment Environmentalissues

Sustainability Systems Environmentalmanagement

Human/ envtinteraction

Change Process Interdisc-iplinary

% r

es

po

ns

e

Stage 1 (n=76) Stage 2 (n=76) Stage 3 (n=50) Staff (n=12)

Key findings & implications

• School students appear to know what geography is about, but have a limited awareness of geology and environmental science.

• There is no indication that they are equating GEES-related topics in the media to academic disciplines.

• Differences between student and staff conceptions of disciplines may have implications for retention.

What on Earth… do GEESers do?

What career or job do you want to do when you finish your education?

• Named job or vocation (e.g. teacher, doctor, lawyer)– Year 7 (11 yrs): 68%– Year 10 (15 yrs): 76%– Year 12 (17 yrs): 78%

• Don’t know / No Response• Sport• Vocation• Topic

% of Students who Named a Vocation for GEESers

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Y ear 7 Y ear 10 Y ear 12(G eo)

Y ear 12(Non-G eo)

Own C areer =V oc ation

G eography

G eology

E nvironmentalS c ienc es

???

Misperceptions about possible careers e.g. archaeology, architecture and engineering.

If school students tend to think about named jobs – will they dismiss GEES?

9 out of 946:• Geologist (3)• Oceanographer (2)• Conservationist (1); Environmentalist (1); Volcanologist(1); Environmental Manager(1)

% of Students who Suggest ‘Study’ or ‘Look at’

Year 7 Year 10 Year 12 (Geo)Year 12 (Non-Geo)

Geography 42% 15% 37% 35%

Geology 27% 24%11% (Geology )

45% (Geography )44%

Environmental Sciences 32% 21% 27% 34%

No. who want to research 0 0 0 4

• Awareness of Relevance --- Recruitment• Conceptions Mismatch --- Retention

• More in-depth research with schools• + Pro-active / high impact strategies

“There is a cumulative process of evolving perceptions and achievement that influences degree subject choice and, for most people, that starts well before the age of 14 years.”

Geo

grap

hy, E

arth& Environmental S

ciences