Creating Place-Based Introductory Geoscience Field Trip Curricula for Indigenous Students

This project seeks to produce and evaluate a place-based geoscience field trip curriculum along the San Juan River designed for Indigenous students. The Geoscience on the San Juan River field trip uses a “place-based” approach to weave scientific concepts with the cultural knowledge and lived experiences of the students. Learning activities were designed to accommodate a wide range of learning preferences and accessibility needs with the hope of increasing Indigenous enrollment in the geosciences. The lesson plan was tested on June 4th, 2022 during a guided rafting excursion on the San Juan River for students participating in the College Launch and Upward Bound programs at the USU Blanding campus. In addition to being near USU Blanding, the San Juan River provides a natural laboratory for experiencing key geoscience concepts such as deep time, stratigraphic principles, changing depositional environments, and the continual impact of erosion in the landscape. The effect the field trip experience had on students was tested using pre- and post-trip survey data. Thematic analysis of open-ended survey responses indicated that students showed a refinement in their thinking about geoscience, and they reveal the concepts and issues in geoscience that trip participants found intriguing, such as how knowledge of geoscience can promote environmental sustainability, and how they can teach geoscience to others in their communities. This could guide which concepts to highlight in future place-based curricula and help improve the experience of place-based field trips for Native American geoscience students.