PS 26-96 - Short, early field course associated with increased belonging and research self-efficacy among undergraduates

Abstract: Field courses have been shown to produce an array of positive outcomes for undergraduate ecology students. Improved sense of belonging is one critical outcome of field courses, as this may be important for retention within the discipline. However, there remain barriers to participation in these courses that may exclude students, particularly students from marginalized groups. For example, students may not be able to participate in a field course because they can’t take time off from work or they may not be able to afford the costs associated with lengthier field courses. Field courses of short duration and deployed early in their undergraduate careers can provide students with hands-on ecological experience, where they can develop their sense of belonging within their discipline while reducing barriers to participation. In this study, we quantify the effects of an immersive, weekend-long undergraduate ecology field course (2.5 days, 2 nights). We utilized a pre-post survey from 56 students who took the course in fall 2022 to measure changes in students’ sense of belonging within their major (3 items) and their research self-efficacy (7 items), all measured on a 7-point Likert scale. For example, students rated questions such as “I see myself as part of my major/academic discipline” and “I am good at using technical research skills.” Paired-sample t-tests showed students’ sense of belonging within their major (t(55) = -4.355, p</em>=< 0.001) and research self-efficacy (t(55) = -4.42, p=< 0.001) increased after the short course. In conclusion, our results suggest that students can develop an increased sense of belonging within their major and self-efficacy even in the short timeframe of a weekend-long field course. These findings have implications for ecological education, as departments and instructors should consider offering short field courses to minimize barriers to participation within the discipline of ecology.