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undergraduate (ug) graduate (grad) expert (exp)
Never Seldom Often Every day

High

Geo

Low

Figure 1. Participant ratings of 11 of the 20 chemistry-related skills surveyed, including three highest and lowest, and five most geoscience relevant topics.

needed for an M.S. or Ph.D. geoscience associated with gas chemistry (Fig. 1). back during the survey development process. Dr. Julie
degree, while undergraduates reported an Applying isotopes to scientific problems Libarkin (MSU) and the GRL students provided sup-
average of four courses for these degrees. ranked highly but is not a focus of most gen- port for data collection. Data for this study were col-
Note: We did not ask which chemistry eral chemistry courses. Second semester gen- lected under approved IRB # HS18-0287 from NIU.
courses should be required. eral chemistry does focus on thermodynam- Dr. Nicole James (Reed College) provided feedback
on this manuscript and generated the figure.
Figure 1 shows 11 of the 20 skills partici- ics, which participants noted they use often.
pants rated. For visual clarity, we only The results of this pilot study provide pre- REFERENCES CITED
included the three highest- and three low- liminary perceptions of the type and quan- Anderson, S.W., and Libarkin, J.C., 2016, Conceptual
est-rated skills and five skills particularly tity of chemistry content geologists value for Mobility and Entrenchment in Introductory Geo-
relevant to the geosciences (e.g., isotopes). a geoscience degree. However, the survey science Courses: New Questions Regarding Phys-
Participants agreed that the most important instructions did not define the parameters of ics’ and Chemistry’s Role in Learning Earth Sci-
skills (labeled “high”) related to applying a “geoscience degree.” GSA attendees draw ence Concepts: Journal of Geoscience Education,
v. 64, p. 74–86, https://doi.org/10.5408/14-017.1.
properties, interpreting chemical data, and from 22 scientific Divisions, and the survey Barbera, J., 2013, A Psychometric Analysis of the
performing analyses of solid Earth materi- participants represented this perspective. We Chemical Concepts Inventory: Journal of Chemi-
als. The lowest-rated skills were those did not analyze participants’ discipline of cal Education, v. 90, p. 546–553, https://doi.org/
10.1021/ed3004353.
involving gases. Graduate students and expertise. The findings suggest tutorials Carpenter, M.B., and Keane, C.M., 2016, Geochem-
experts indicated they “often” engage in focused on improving geoscience students’ istry, in The Geoscience Handbook, AGI Data
“applying isotope concepts to scientific basic chemistry skills, similar to “The Math Sheets: Alexandria, Virginia, American Geosci-
problems” (n = 7 of 41; n grad = 22 of 36; n You Need” tutorials (Wenner and Baer, ences Institute, 478 p.
ug
exp
= 21 of 31 (ug—undergraduate; grad—grad- 2015), may be useful for topics of high Sullivan, G.M., and Artino, A.R., Jr., 2013, Analyzing
uate student; exp—professional). importance but absent from the general and interpreting data from Likert-type scales: Jour-
nal of Graduate Medical Education, v. 5, no. 4,
chemistry curriculum. Targeted training can p. 541–542, https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-5-4-18.
DISCUSSION AND NEXT STEPS alleviate barriers associated with learning Wenner, J.M., and Baer, E.M., 2015, The Math You
Overall, the three expertise groups shared chemistry as a geoscience major. Need, When You Need It (TMYN): Leveling the
general consensus regarding the importance Playing Field: Numeracy, v. 8, p. 1–20, https://
doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.8.2.5.
and amount of chemistry necessary for the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Funding for this project was provided by the North-
geosciences. Participants ranked chemistry ern Illinois University Goldich Fund. Drs. Jen Wenner MANUScRiPT REcEivED 29 OcT. 2021
content and skills associated with aqueous (University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh) and Justin Dodd REviSED MANUScRiPT REcEivED 14 JULy 2022
and solid chemistry higher than those (Northern Illinois University [NIU]) provided feed- MANUScRiPT AccEPTED 18 JULy 2022

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