Supporting Geoscience Students at Two-Year Colleges: Career Preparation and Academic Success

Two-year colleges play an important role in developing a competent and creative geoscience workforce, teaching science to pre-service K-12 teachers, producing earth-science literate citizens, and providing a foundation for broadening participation in the geosciences. The Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges (SAGE 2YC) project has developed web resources for geoscience faculty on the preparation and support of students in two-year colleges (2YCs). Online resources developed from two topical workshops and several national, regional, and local workshops around the country focus on two main categories: Career Preparation and Workforce Development, and Supporting Student Success in Geoscience at Two-year Colleges. The Career Preparation and Workforce Development resources were developed to help faculty make the case that careers in the geosciences provide a range of possibilities for students and to support preparation for the geoscience workforce and for transfer to four-year programs as geoscience majors. Many two-year college students are unaware of geoscience career opportunities and these materials help illuminate possible futures for them. Resources include an overview of what geoscientists do; profiles of possible careers along with the preparation necessary to qualify for them; geoscience employer perspectives about jobs and the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes they are looking for in their employees; employment trends in sectors of the economy that employ geoscience professionals; examples of geotechnician workforce programs (e.g. Advanced Technological Education Centers, environmental technology programs, marine technician programs); and career resources available from professional societies. The website also provides information to support student recruitment into the geosciences and facilitate student transfer to geoscience programs at four- year colleges and universities, including sections on advising support before and after transfer, research opportunities, and 2YC-4YC collaborations. Improving student success is an important priority at most 2YCs, and is especially challenging because students who enroll at a 2YC arrive with a wide range of abilities, preparation, and goals. Web resources that build on research from education, cognitive science, and psychology address topics such as stereotype threat, solo status, the affective domain, and effective teaching approaches. Other materials describe how to work with various student populations (e.g., English-language learners, students with disabilities, veterans), approaches to strengthening students' ability to monitor their own learning, and other strategies for supporting student success. Programs that support student success in general are important for the more specific goal of developing the geoscience workforce.