GP-GO: GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Education (GEOSPACE)

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Field-based education is a core component of many geoscience programs that can have a significant impact on student learning and feelings of belonging in the geosciences. Traditional field programs present a significant barrier to degree completion for students with disabilities. The lack of accessible field courses is a contributing factor in the significant underrepresentation of people with disabilities in geoscience careers, and limits the academic progression of students with disabilities into graduate programs. Because a significant portion of any demographic group identifies as having a disability, this barrier also impacts the recruitment and retention of all other underrepresented groups into advanced degrees and geoscience careers. A growing number of projects have demonstrated a variety of ways in which students of all abilities can participate in field training activities, but accredited accessible field camps remain exceedingly rare. The GeoScientists Supporting Accessible Collaborative Experiences (GeoSPACE) program will create a geophysics and planetary geology field course that provides academic and professional development for a cohort of upper level undergraduates, with and without disabilities, who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in the geosciences. The GeoSPACE field course will focus on data collection and analysis, and collaboration and communication skills, while building networks and a community of support through mentoring connections between peers and geoscience professionals with disabilities. The GeoSPACE Program will use collaborative problem solving to address barriers of access that inhibit degree completion by providing a fully accessible field and research program. Development of this two-week field course will take place in 3 phases. Phase 1 will evaluate locations, build course material and select students. Phase 2 will pilot the 2-week field course, collect student feedback and evaluate learning outcomes. In Phase 3, a new student cohort will be recruited to trial the fully developed and pilot-tested two-week field course, earning course credit for their participation. Some students from the pilot phase will act as virtual peer mentors for the new students, starting a tradition of peer mentoring and community building that could continue in future iterations of the field course. This course provides a tangible solution to one barrier to degree completion for SWDs, as well as the development of a fully virtual mode of participation for students who cannot travel to the field for extended periods of time for any reason family/caregiving, job constraints, temporary injury, etc. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.