Abstract:

In recent years there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of students signing up for the degree in Geology at the University of Granada, a school with more than 50 years of tradition. As a result of this, during the academic year 2010-2011 a group of ten professors from the Geodynamic, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, and Mineralogy and Petrology departments have joined forces with a sociologist and graphic designer to undertake a teaching innovation project. The aim of the project is to increase awareness about Geology as a degree subject and as a profession.
The initiative, in which students from the University of Granada have also participated, consisted in the design and presentation of a series of talks in high schools in the region which has traditionally been a catchment area for the University of Granada Geology students. In addition, an informative leaflet was distributed in the centres where talks were given. A key point of the study was a questionnaire designed to determine the high school students': socio-demographic profile, knowledge of geology as a profession and their opinion about the role of geology in society.
In the provisional results obtained from 328 students ranging in age from 15 to 21 (the average being 16), some 53% of which were female, the most notable finding was that of these half have not yet decided what they will study at university. Moreover, a similar proportion did not know that Geology was a degree subject at the University of Granada. It may be concluded, therefore, that our undertaking, to promote awareness of geology, may have important repercussions.
Of those surveyed, 44% stated that they knew a geologist in their social group or family and two thirds had seen a geologist in the media. Despite this, it is remarkable that three quarters of those surveyed only knew of teaching as a possible job for geologists. Significantly, almost half of the high school students would like to have more emphasis placed on geology in their Secondary Education studies.
Geology is perceived as a theoretical science by 88% of the students questioned, associated, by them, more to empirical knowledge than to the practical solution of problems. Surprisingly, over half, 60%, of those polled thought that geology was not a socially prestigious profession and a similar proportion that it was not well paid.
Natural disasters, followed by exploration and preservation of subterranean water, were the areas of geology that the students thought to be of most interest and use to society. The majority of those surveyed evaluated the talk they received positively. Strikingly, comparison of the before- and after-presentation questionnaires showed that the number of students considering Geology as a possible degree subject had quintupled.
Acknowledgements
This paper is a result of the Teaching Innovation Project 09-122, funded by the University of Granada Vicerectorate for Guaranteeing Quality. We acknowledge the participation of a group of students of Geology as well as the collaboration of a number of High Schools of the Granada, Jaén, Almería, Málaga, Córdoba, Cádiz and Murcia provinces. The departments of Geodynamics, Mineralogy and Petrology and Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the University of Granada are also acknowledged for its support.

Keywords:

Geology, Secondary Education, Teaching Innovation, University of Granada.