Qualitative Analysis of College Students' Ideas about the Earth: Interviews and Open-Ended Questionnaires

Student conceptual understanding and conceptual change is an active area of research in many science disciplines. In the geosciences, alternative conceptions held by students, particularly college students, are not well documented or understood. To further this body of research, students enrolled in introductory science courses at four institutions completed 265 open-ended questionnaires and participated in 105 interviews. Data were collected at a small private university, two large state schools, and one small public liberal arts college. Students were probed on a variety of topics related to the Earth's crust and interior, as well as geologic time. Analysis of questionnaire and interview responses indicates that students hold a number of non-scientific ideas about the Earth. Additionally, students apply a range of ontological categories to geologic phenomena, with significant implications for teaching geosciences from a systems perspective.