New Perspectives in Science Education

The teaching of geology has a complex position among science subjects. It is difficult for students to perceive the spatiotemporal relationships between geological objects and processes ([1], [2]). Other studies point to the problem of forming students' research skills, where students have difficulties in making scientific observations and associating observed features with scientific terminology ([3], [4]). These difficulties cause students to feel dissatisfied and disinterested. However, they can be eliminated by understanding the meaning of conceptual relationships between geological concepts using a variety of activating and problem-based learning strategies.

This study focuses on the effect of problem-based activities on students' interest in geological topics. A group of 168 students participated in problem-based activities focused on rocks and their properties, geologic processes, fossils, and relative and absolute dating of geologic time. The pedagogical approach included teaching strategies targeting direct observation of rocks and geologic structures, drawing and modelling of geologic formations, and inductive-deductive methods related to geologic time dating. Importantly, all teaching techniques were designed to be highly interactive and to encourage student collaboration in a group setting. Topics were deliberately chosen as moderately difficult so that students would be required to use at least basic research skills.

The results of this research showed that the introduction of active learning methods significantly increased students' interest in geological topics. In particular, activities that involved hands-on exploration of rocks and activities that focused on creating geological models elicited the highest levels of student engagement and enthusiasm. In contrast, activities that required numerical calculations, particularly those involving absolute dating, generated thematic interest but were often perceived as less engaging due to their more abstract nature.