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The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance Inâ an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course

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The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance Inâ an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2020-12-03 The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance in an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course Nicole Elizabeth Ortiz Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Ortiz, Nicole Elizabeth, "The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance in an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 8736. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8736 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance in an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course Nicole Ortiz A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Brooks B. Britt, Chair Eric Christiansen Jani Radebaugh Department of Geological Sciences Brigham Young University Copyright © 2020 Nicole Ortiz All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The Impact of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments on Exam Preparation and Performance in an Introductory, University-Level Geology Course Nicole Ortiz Department of Geological Sciences, BYU Master of Science Advocates assert that experiential/applicational learning facilitates deep understanding but there is a dearth of empirical research testing the effectiveness of experiential learning in university geology courses. Domack (1999) and Moecher (2004) document applicational assignments within geology courses. These evaluations, however, are based solely on instructor opinion and informal student comments. To evaluate the effectiveness of experiential assignments this study utilizes empirical data from control and test groups in each of two semesters of Geology 100, a general education course on dinosaurs. Control groups completed traditional research papers which were replaced by experiential assignments in the test groups. The first semester groups exhibited no statistical difference in exam scores. Following a redesign of the experiential assignment for the second semester, the test group scored 4.8% better on average on exams than the control group. Post-exam questionnaires revealed that the test groups in both semesters of the study felt the experiential assignments provided significant exam preparation, an opinion not shared by the control groups’ experience with term papers. Key words: experiential learning, undergraduate geology, instructional design, applicational assignments, STEM education ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge the support and guidance of my advisory committee, Brooks Britt, Eric Christiansen, and Jani Radebaugh in the development and reporting of this study; Dennis Eggett in statistical analysis; Randy Davies in assessment and learning objective improvement and survey analysis; and Jason McDonald in instructional design. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 2. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 3 3. METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Data collection ...................................................................................................................... 6 3.2 Statistics................................................................................................................................ 8 3.3 Development ....................................................................................................................... 10 4. RESULTS.................................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Iteration 1 ............................................................................................................................ 13 4.1.1 Quantitative analyses ................................................................................................... 14 4.1.2 Qualitative analyses ..................................................................................................... 17 4.2 Iteration 2 ............................................................................................................................ 19 4.2.1 Quantitative analyses ................................................................................................... 20 4.2.2 Qualitative analyses ..................................................................................................... 28 5. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 31 iv 5.1 Future work ......................................................................................................................... 38 6. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 39 7. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 41 8. APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 47 8.1 Appendix A: Experiential assignment supporting documents ............................................ 47 8.1.1 Instructions ................................................................................................................... 47 8.1.2 Maps and field notes .................................................................................................... 54 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Sample of experiential assignment materials. .............................................................. 11 Figure 2. Iterations 1 and 2 pre-test statistics. ............................................................................. 13 Figure 3. Iteration 1 Exam 1 statistics. ........................................................................................ 14 Figure 4. Iteration 1 Exam 2 statistics. ........................................................................................ 15 Figure 5. Iteration 1 Final Exam statistics. .................................................................................. 16 Figure 6. Iteration 1 comparison of questionnaire responses. ..................................................... 18 Figure 7. Iteration 1 frequency distribution of response themes. ................................................ 19 Figure 8. Iteration 2 Exam 1 statistics. ........................................................................................ 21 Figure 9. Iteration 2 Exam 1 regression analysis data. ................................................................ 22 Figure 10. Iteration 2 Exam 2 statistics. ...................................................................................... 24 Figure 11. Iteration 2 Exam 2 regression analysis data. .............................................................. 25 Figure 12. Iteration 2 Final Exam statistics. ................................................................................ 27 Figure 13. Iteration 2 Final Exam regression analysis data. ........................................................ 28 Figure 14. Iteration 2 comparison of questionnaire responses. ................................................... 30 Figure 15. Iteration 2 frequency distribution of response themes.. ............................................. 31 vi 1. INTRODUCTION The National Science Foundation has long called on science departments to creatively help university students achieve scientific literacy via conceptually oriented, instead of fact- oriented, courses (National Science Foundation, 1996). During the 2007 economic decline in the United States, the National Research Council reiterated the critical importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to quality of life and economic welfare (Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century, 2007). This call for educational institutions to emphasize STEM education has expanded globally (Barakos et al., 2012). The goal is to develop a STEM-literate society able to approach real-world
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