Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2007
Journal or Book Title
Journal of Geoscience Education
Volume
55
Issue
5
First Page
357
Last Page
363
Abstract
A diagnostic test for assessing the general and Earth science knowledge of entry-level college students was administered to 451 students in 2002 and 401 students in 2003 enrolled in an introductory geology course at Iowa State University. The study shows that male students, seniors, and science-technology-math majors score higher than female students, freshmen, and non-science-technology-math majors and that the differences are statistically significant. Also, students who scored higher on the diagnostic test were more likely to pass the course. The results support the feasibility of a standardized diagnostic test as a tool for geoscience instructors for curriculum planning, student advising, and curriculum assessment, similar to standardized diagnostic testing and pre-post testing used in chemistry and physics courses. Standardized national tests would enhance college geoscience education.
Rights
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Copyright Owner
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Copyright Date
2007
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Cervato, Cinzia; Rudd, James A. II; and Wang, Vivian Z., "Diagnostic Testing of Introductory Geology Students" (2007). Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Publications. 1.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ge_at_pubs/1
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Geology Commons, Higher Education Commons
Comments
This article is from Journal of Geoscience Education 55 (2007): 357. Posted with permission.