Landscape Study of Undergraduate Field Experiences: Report from the Field on the Design, Outcomes, and Assessment of Undergraduate Field Experiences

O'Connell, Kari; Hoke, Kelly; Nilson, Roberta

doi:10.5399/osu/1130

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…3). This aligns with what respondents in the landscape study (O'Connell et al 2018) say regarding their intended student outcomes for their field programs/courses.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

“…In attempting to identify skills that employers expected students or recent graduates to have in field research, we found little in the literature that provided a comprehensive set of categories for skills specific to fieldwork. The study by O'Connell et al (2018O'Connell et al ( , 2020 on student outcomes from field experiences provided some key insights. We proceeded to categorize and list the skills that could help us gain a better understanding of the employer expectations and provide a medium to obtain quantifiable data from students through the student evaluation survey.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these programs, students engaged in independent, mentored, or small group research. The directors believed students gained many skills from their programs, most of which could be categorized under three themes: development of research skills and hands-on experience with scientific thinking, professional growth, and personal growth (O'Connell et al 2018(O'Connell et al , 2020.…”

Section: Field Research Programs and Perceived Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Toward Conceptualizing Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Field Programs and Employer Expectations for Field Positions

Alwin

Geleta

Mourad

2021

Bulletin Ecologic Soc America

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A key outcome of an effective undergraduate experience is for students to gain disciplinary knowledge and develop a range of skills and habits of mind that prepare them for career success. In 2018, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) entered into an agreement with the US Geological Survey (USGS) to recruit students and recent graduates and place them into field ecology/biology internship positions at research sites across the United States. This paper focuses on field research jobs and presents a literature review to gain an understanding of workforce development issues and preliminary perspectives on critical skills in which employers might be interested. This paper is based on a case study of one employer (USGS) and investigates the potential alignment between employer expectations, field training, and perceived student outcomes. To conceptualize new graduates’ readiness and employer expectations, we identified a set of skill categories sought by field research sites. We did this by analyzing the job descriptions available through the 2019 ESA/USGS Cooperative Summer Internship Program and prior literature. These categories were incorporated into a new post‐internship student survey that was used to collect data from students. We found a potential gap in some transferable skills in both fieldwork and office work expected by employers and those offered by undergraduate field training programs. This could be explored in future studies involving a more extensive set of employers who seek to hire students with field ecology/biology skills.

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“…3). This aligns with what respondents in the landscape study (O'Connell et al 2018) say regarding their intended student outcomes for their field programs/courses.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Field Research Programs and Perceived Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Toward Conceptualizing Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Field Programs and Employer Expectations for Field Positions

Alwin

Geleta

Mourad

2021

Bulletin Ecologic Soc America

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“…The need to make the environmental workforce match the increasingly diverse demographics of human communities has prompted research inquiry on what factors specifically affect URM students' career choices in environmental science fields. For environmental careers, elements influencing URM engagement include many different factors such as family support (Armstrong et al 2007), participation in guided experiences in nature appreciation (whether in urban or more natural field sites; Aloisio et al 2018), exposure to careers in ecology (Morales et al 2020), connecting environmental study in some way to interests in solving local and global community problems that affect minorities (Bowser et al 2020), and field research experiences as high school or college students in any type of environmental setting (Flowers et al 2016, Burrow 2018, O'Connell et al 2018, Beltran et al 2020. All of these experiences can lead URM students into further study of the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2017 , O'Connell et al. 2018 ). A wealth of research on identity, belonging, and place attachment exists in the social science literature (Yeager and Dweck 2012 , for example); however, these approaches have not been applied to the field experience and most of the relevant papers lie on the boundaries of ecology, science learning, and URM recruitment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing the ecological scientist mindset among underrepresented students in ecology fields

Bowser

Cid

2021

Ecological Applications

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How do students discover ecology? Answering this question is essential for diversifying the environmental workforce because scientific disciplines, such as ecology, are often not discovered until students enter academia and are exposed to different disciplinary options. Ecology, and many of the environmental sciences, have persistent and alarmingly low numbers of underrepresented minorities (URM; African American, Hispanic American, Native American, and Pacific Islanders), while other science and technology fields have shown progress in diversification. Why does such underrepresentation persist in environmental disciplines? Social factors such as sense of belonging, science identity, implicit biases, and stereotypes all have been explored and are known to influence the participation of URM students in science. The unique role of the field experience in environmental sciences as a "rite of passage" and "authentic" research experience is one important influence on how URM students experience ecology. Interventions using social elements such as belonging and sense of place are demonstrated ways to broaden participation particularly in environmental science fields, yet dramatic underrepresentation still persists. Here we review known factors affecting and enhancing the recruitment and retention of URMs in the sciences and focus on comprehensive strategies shown to be effective recruiting URM students into the environmental workforce.

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Making outdoor field experiences more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community

Lundin

Bombaci

2022

Ecological Applications

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Outdoor field experiences have not historically been welcoming to marginalized communities. Recent calls to address the lack of diversity in outdoor field experiences have accelerated efforts to make programs more inclusive for multiple marginalized identity groups. Despite these efforts, many cultural and procedural changes are still needed to support the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ+) community when participating in outdoor field experiences. Here we use results from a survey of leaders from 17 outdoor programs and expertise gained from our own experiences cultivating inclusion in field programs to outline strategies that outdoor field experience providers can use to foster greater support for the LGBTQ+ community. We define key terminology to increase awareness of LGBTQ+ identities and pronouns. We then highlight important actions that field experience leaders can take to make their internships, education programs, and trips more accessible and inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community. We use results from our survey of outdoor programs to highlight practices currently being used to support LGBTQ+ inclusion and accessibility and synthesize how current practice aligns with our overall recommendations. The LGBTQ+ community deserves to be welcomed into outdoor field experiences and to participate fully as students, researchers, educators, recreators, and professionals.

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Landscape Study of Undergraduate Field Experiences: Report from the Field on the Design, Outcomes, and Assessment of Undergraduate Field Experiences

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

Toward Conceptualizing Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Field Programs and Employer Expectations for Field Positions

Toward Conceptualizing Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Field Programs and Employer Expectations for Field Positions

Developing the ecological scientist mindset among underrepresented students in ecology fields

Making outdoor field experiences more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community

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