Patterns in student self-reported situational interest in online introductory geoscience labs during COVID

Triggered situational interest in introductory courses can encourage student engagement, motivation, and value for the geosciences. In-person labs have traditionally played a unique role in triggering situational interest compared to lectures, but the COVID transition online disrupted these dynamics. We examine students’ self-reported situational interest from 6,463 responses to weekly surveys in online introductory geoscience lab courses at five U.S. institutions during fall 2020 and spring 2021. Approximately half of students reported that labs were equally (49.4%) or more interesting (4.3%) online, compared to a hypothetical in-person option. Analysis showed a statistically-significant interaction between student situational interest and the combined effect of 1) the course the students were enrolled in and 2) the topic of the lab session (F (20, 6395) = 4.038, p < 0.001). However, topic and course together explain only about 4% of the variance in the dataset, indicating that other factors have a large role in triggering interest. Students who indicated that labs were less interesting online (46.3%) most often cited not being able to physically interact with instructional materials (56.3%) and difficulty interacting with peers (30.6%). When asked what revisions would increase their situational interest, additional hands-on interaction (22.8%) and increased relevance to their life or future career (20.2%) were the answer choices students selected most frequently. These findings identify modifications and enhancements grounded in students’ self-reported interest that can inform the design of online introductory geology labs.

入门课程中所触发的情境兴趣（situational interest），能够提升学生的课堂参与度、学习动机以及对地球科学的学科价值认同。传统而言，线下实验课相较于讲座类课程，在触发情境兴趣方面具备独特优势，但新冠疫情期间全面转向线上教学的举措打破了这一固有格局。本研究针对2020年秋季与2021年春季，美国5所院校开设的线上入门地球科学实验课的每周调查问卷数据开展分析，共获取6463份学生自主报告的情境兴趣相关反馈。约半数学生表示，线上实验课与假想的线下实验课相比，趣味性相当（49.4%）或更胜一筹（4.3%）。分析结果显示，学生的情境兴趣与以下两类因素的联合效应之间存在统计学意义上的显著交互作用：1）学生所选修读的课程；2）实验课的主题（F(20, 6395) = 4.038, p < 0.001）。但课程主题与课程类型的联合效应仅能解释本数据集约4%的变异量，这表明尚有其他诸多因素对情境兴趣的触发起到主导作用。认为线上实验课趣味性更低的学生（46.3%），最常提及的两点原因分别为：无法亲手操作教学实物材料（56.3%）以及难以与同伴开展互动交流（30.6%）。当被问及哪些教学改进举措能够提升自身的情境兴趣时，学生最频繁选择的两项方案为：增加实操互动环节（22.8%）以及增强课程与个人生活或未来职业的关联性（20.2%）。本研究的结论基于学生自主报告的兴趣反馈，明确了可用于指导线上入门地质学实验课设计的改进方向与优化措施。