“There is no escaping it”: Graduate Student Conceptions of Environment and their Implications for Learning Motivation and Public Health Curricula

Main Article Content

Katherine L Cheesman
Emily Q Ahonen

Abstract

This manuscript stems from observations the authors made while teaching an environmental health course, which is part of a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. Observations of student attitudes and patterns in course feedback prompted questions about how to pique interest in the course.  Since research on motivation has shown that adult learners build new knowledge from what they believe they already know, we first sought to better understand this basis for learning. On the first day of class, students were administered an assignment prompting them to "define environment" in their own words; data were analyzed for content. Results characterize student conceptions of environment as being (1) beyond human influence and (2) individually-focused. The implications of these "alternative conceptions" of environmental public health for educators seeking to motivate adult learners are discussed. Restructuring coursework to reflect Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) is identified as a potential solution to student amotivation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Cheesman, K. L., & Ahonen, E. Q. (2019). “There is no escaping it”: Graduate Student Conceptions of Environment and their Implications for Learning Motivation and Public Health Curricula. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v19i2.23970
Section
Articles
Author Biographies

Katherine L Cheesman, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University

Master of Public Health Student, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Emily Q Ahonen, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University

Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Science and Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

References

American Public Health Association (APHA). (2017). 10 Essential Public Health Services. Retrieved from https://apha.org/about-apha/centers-and-programs/quality-improvement-initiatives/10essential-public-health-services

Atkinson, J. W., & Feather, N. T. (1966). A Theory of Achievement Motivation (Vol. 66). Wiley New York.

Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 260–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.260

Archer, J. (1994). Achievement goals as a measure of motivation in university students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19(4), 430–446. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1994.1031

Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (1st edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Carre, P. (2000). Motivation in adult education: from engagement to performance. Paper presented at the 41st Adult Education Research Conference. Vancouver, Canada.

Cranton, P. (2000). Individual differences and transformative learning. Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress, 181–204.

Cranton, P., & Wright, B. (2008). The transformative educator as learning companion, the transformative educator as learning companion. Journal of Transformative Education, 6(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344608316961

Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040– 1048. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1040

Griffiths, A. K., Thomey, K., Cooke, B., & Normore, G. (1988). Remediation of student-specific misconceptions relating to three science concepts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 25(9), 709–719. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660250902

Hegarty, N. (2011). Adult learners as graduate students: Underlying motivation in completing graduate programs. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59(3), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377363.2011.614883

Knowles, M. (1973). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company.

Knowles, M. S. (1984). Andragogy in Action: Applying Modern Principles of Adult Learning. Wiley.

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The Adult Learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. New York, NY: Routledge.

Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 1997(74), 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.7401

Mezirow, J., & Taylor, E. W. (2009). Transformative Learning in Practice: Insights from Community, Workplace, and Higher Education (1st ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A method sourcebook. CA, US: Sage Publications.

Rothes, A., Lemos, M. S., & Gonçalves, T. (2014). Motives and beliefs of learners enrolled in adult education. International Conference on Education & Educational Psychology 2013 (ICEEPSY 2013), 112, 939–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1252

Saavedra, E. (1996). Teachers study groups: Contexts for transformative learning and action. Theory into Practice, 35(4), 271–277.

Taylor, E. W. (1998). The Theory and Practice of Transformative Learning: A Critical Review. Information Series No. 374. Center on Education and Training for Employment, Columbus, OH. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED423422

Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246.

World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. (2017). Public Health Services. Retrieved from http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Health-systems/public-healthservices/public-health-services

Zoller, U. (1996). The use of examinations for revealing and distinguishing between students’ misconceptions, misunderstandings and “no conceptions” in college chemistry. Research in Science Education, 26(3), 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356942