Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Discipline-Based Education Research to Investigate Teamwork Process Skills in Field-Based Geoscience Education

About This Grant

Dr. Yager has been awarded a fellowship to conduct research and professional development activities under the mentorship of Dr. Samuel Nyarko at Indiana University, Indianapolis. This project advances research in geoscience education. The capacity to work in teams and having effective teamwork skills are essential in the STEM workforce, and especially in geosciences - a field highly reliant on collaborative fieldwork. Furthermore, the vision and change for the future of geoscience education is that all students should have the knowledge and skills to work in teams, and almost every STEM job advertisement lists teamwork skills as part of the position requirements. Thus, around 98% of geoscience field courses in the United States rely on teamwork as a core teaching and learning strategy, and 88% of geoscience faculty use teamwork strategy at least once in their courses. Most STEM job advertisements list teamwork skills as a position requirement, yet students rarely receive instruction on how to work in teams. This study will design and implement teamwork intervention lessons to connect teamwork skills and fieldwork to investigate how these teamwork lessons impact students learning in both science concepts and teamwork process skills. This project aims to (1) design and implement teamwork intervention lessons for geoscience students that makes explicit connection of teamwork skills to fieldwork, lab, and classroom activities and (2) evaluate the impact of the intervention on students' teamwork process skills learning outcomes. The project will conduct design-based implementation research (DBIR) to identify the design characteristics of teamwork interventions. Then, the intervention will be evaluated to identify compatibility of the lessons’ content, learning outcomes, and assessments. The interventions will be implemented in an inquiry-based workshop format at four field camp courses located at four institutions in the United States. Evaluation will be conducted using a mixed methods case study design to measure the impact of the interventions. It is predicted that incorporating explicit instruction on teamwork skills will help students understand teamwork process skills and aid them to effectively utilize these skills in collaborative team environments, as well as in workforce and career development. This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program aimed at enhancing the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. 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.