Changing habits of mind: A phenomenological view of how a computational geology course affected students’ geologic numeracy

Abstract

A quantitative literacy course titled “Computational Geology” has been taught at the University of South Florida for over 20 years at the undergraduate level, largely by the same professor. Due to the extended course tenure, a unique opportunity presented itself to qualitatively study what the perceived broader impacts of the course were on selected alumni from three or more years post-graduation. Viewing data from a 2016 course alumni interview project through a transcendental phenomenological lens, we looked for evidence to describe the lived experiences of nine course alumni. The alumni were baccalaureate geology graduates of USF, at least three years removed from graduation at the time of interview, who had taken and passed the Computational Geology course, and been working in private, public, or academic sectors. We discovered that the course positively impacted students’ self-efficacy toward mathematics, nurtured a growing appreciation for using math as a tool to solve problems relevant to the students’ personal life and career, and motivated students to learn and appreciate quantitatively literate behaviors and how quantitative literacy applies to their personal and professional life. We assert that instructors who consider the affective domain (i.e., feelings, emotions, and attitudes) while teaching mathematics leverage a powerful approach to impact student learning and incite a long-lasting impact on students’ appreciation for quantitative literacy.