See more from this Division: General Discipline Sessions
See more from this Session: Geoscience Education III: Research on Learning in the Geosciences
Abstract:
Whilst providing us with a quantifiable measure of changes in the students' attitudes and feelings, however, the survey data tell us little or nothing about the experiences that have resulted in these changes, or of the factors likely to have influenced them. In order to gain a deeper insight into the students' affective responses we supplemented the quantitative data with qualitative data from in-situ and group interviews, open (free-text) survey questions, and direct observation of fieldwork activities. This provided a richness of information that would not be achieved from quantitative data alone, and thus enabled us to achieve a greater understanding of the students' experiences of this residential fieldcourse. It also enabled the social and cultural aspects of the fieldcourse to emerge' as factors which significantly influenced the students' affective responses. Our findings support the conclusion of Boyle et al. (2007) that fieldwork is good', and demonstrate the value of combining qualitative and quantitative data to enhance our understanding of learning in a field environment.
See more from this Division: General Discipline Sessions
See more from this Session: Geoscience Education III: Research on Learning in the Geosciences