Rocks Really Rock: electronic field trips via Web Google Earth can generate positive impacts in attitudes toward Earth sciences in middle- and high-school students

Abstract

Earth sciences (ESs) are relevant to society and its relationship with the Earth system. However, ES education in K-12 environments in the United States faces several challenges, including limited exposure to ESs, lack of awareness of ES careers, and low ES literacy. International associations have recognized these challenges and recommended that Earth scientists improve the public's perception of the relevance of ES. In recent years, informal science communication and outreach platforms such as the Streaming Science model of electronic field trips (EFTs), which connect K-12 classrooms with science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) professionals, have gained popularity as an educational technology tool. EFTs are inexpensive, have spatiotemporal benefits, and have proven an effective informal science education pathway for introducing STEM content into formal classrooms to increase positive attitudes and interest in STEM careers. Nevertheless, EFTs in ES for K-12 environments have not been widely disseminated, and their impact on ES education has yet to be studied. This study presents the creation and implementation of an EFT in geology called “Rocks Really Rock: An Electronic Field Trip across Geological Time.” The program was implemented in seven schools in spring 2022. The EFT was built in Web Google Earth and had six stops that featured prerecorded videos recorded in different locations in Idaho (USA). The lead presenter or author used multimedia and science communication strategies such as storytelling to develop and teach concepts related to geological time, rock formation, and landscape-forming geological processes. The content aligned with four specific topics listed in the National Science Foundation's Earth Sciences Literacy Principles and intersected with the Next Generation Science Standards for middle-school classrooms. Participating students (n=120) completed a post-assessment after the program implementation to evaluate its impact. Results showed that the EFT positively impacted students' attitudes toward geology, geology careers, and perceptions of geology literacy. We identified the three main factors that determined a positive attitude change in K-12 students toward ES: (1) the use of videos and the Web Google Earth platform to create outreach materials for K-12 students, (2) the use of storytelling to craft the content of an EFT, and (3) the asynchronous interactions between teacher, student, and scientist. The results indicated a statistically significant positive change in attitudes toward geology, suggesting that participating in the EFT increased students' positive attitudes toward ES. These findings demonstrate the potential of expanding EFT to other ES fields and reaching middle- and high-school students. We suggest that EFTs are effective outreach tools that can address the challenges in ES education and that can be extended to other ES areas and distributed to students in middle, high, and home schools to support science educators in ES education.