1. Linking the Fields of Geoscience Education to Education Psychology: How Do We Convince our Students that Geoscience is worthwhile?
Kaatje Kraft
(based on collaborative work with Jenefer Husman, Steve Semken, LeeAnn Srogi & Mimi Fuhrman)
This project was made possible due to a sabbatical appointment from Maricopa Community College District

2. Motivation Theory Expectancy x Value (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000)
Increase student expectation for success
Provide opportunities for regulation of their learning process
Provide timely and relevant feedback
Provide opportunities for students to have control over their learning
Students need to value what they are learning
Task value
Utility value
Interest

3. Emotion Theory
Positive and Negative Emotions influence student learning (Pekrun et al, 2002)
Positive activating emotions: enjoyment of learning, hope for success, and pride
Positive deactivating emotions: relief
Negative activating emotions: shame, anger, anxiety
Negative deactivating emotions: hopelessness, boredom
The environment we create in our classroom can contribute to these emotions

4. Connection to Earth
Our expert opinion informs our appreciation of Earth’s beauty (Carlson, 2000)
Distinct to sciences that involve Earth
Part of why we do science, but not always what we reveal to our students about our discipline (Flannery, 1992)

5. What do we do in geosciences?
Connect to places of meaning
Motivation: task value & interest
Emotion: enjoyment of learning
CtE: examine places with depth of knowledge and (sometimes) beauty
Go outdoors
Motivation: task value and interest
CtE: appreciate being outdoors
Visualize
Motivation: support expectancy for success, utility value
Emotion: enjoyment
CtE: photographs, images can be aesthetically pleasing both from an internal and an informed expert perspective

6. How do we get our students to care?
Intertwine our goals:
Social Interactions--students are more likely to value what they are learning if they have opportunities to interact with their peers

7. How do we get our students to care?
Intertwine our goals:
Future goals: make content relevant & be explicit
Lifestyle Project
Incorporate metacognition
Provide writing assignments
Encourage group work

8. How do we get our students to care?
Model what we want to see
Thinking process
Appreciation/Values
Emotion