Understanding Undergraduate Student Conceptions about Biogeochemical Cycles and the Earth System

Autor/inn/en	Soltis, Nicholas A.; McNeal, Karen S.; Schnittka, Christine G.
Titel	Understanding Undergraduate Student Conceptions about Biogeochemical Cycles and the Earth System
Quelle	In: Journal of Geoscience Education, 69 (2021) 3, S.265-280 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Soltis, Nicholas A.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1089-9995
DOI	10.1080/10899995.2020.1858267
Schlagwörter	Undergraduate Students; Student Attitudes; Scientific Concepts; Concept Formation; Schemata (Cognition); Earth Science; Chemistry; Biology; STEM Education; Majors (Students); Freehand Drawing; Pollution + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schülerverhalten; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Cognition; Schema; Kognition; Earth sciences; Geowissenschaften; Chemie; Biologie; STEM; Drawing; Zeichnen; Schadstoffbelastung
Abstract	Research has shown the highest level of understanding in the geosciences to be the ability to think about the Earth as a dynamic system. The Earth system contains four spheres: the geosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere, and the atmosphere. These spheres are linked through the biogeochemical cycles that move matter and energy through the various parts of the Earth system. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining how undergraduate students perceive fluxes and reservoirs of important elements within the Earth system: namely carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Through interviews, concept drawings, and surveys, undergraduate students' conceptions and alternate conceptions about the Earth System and biogeochemical cycles were collected. This study revealed that undergraduate students in both STEM and non-STEM fields tend to hold a "bio-centric" view of the carbon cycle and have more limited conceptions in terms of detail and breadth of the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles. Students who took more STEM courses and were in more interdisciplinary fields tended to have more nuanced (though not necessarily complete) conceptions of these cycles. Implications for this study involve the improvement of teaching biogeochemical concepts across disciplines, but also inform our knowledge about using these cycles in the context of systems thinking. This work also provides a baseline for future work on developing learning progressions for biogeochemical cycles and complex Earth systems and in assessing systems thinking abilities through student knowledge of biogeochemical cycles. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01