%0 Journal Article %A McEneaney, Elizabeth H. %A Radeloff, Cheryl L. %D 2000 %I Begell House %N 2 %P 24 %R 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v6.i2.30 %T GEOSCIENCE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT: AN ASSESSMENT OF COURSE IMPACT ON ATTITUDES OF FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,3d40cb433fc72335,2129bb8d69382a83.html %V 6 %X This article evaluates the effect of an experimental introductory undergraduate course on female students' confidence and interest in geoscience, and their attitude toward classroom participation and praxis. The course is one component of the PROMISE project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, and described in detail previously (Mayberry, Welling, Phillips, Radeloff & Rees, 1999). Using pre- and postcourse surveys, we found that students in the course showed no significant change in confidence, modest gains in interest, and highly significant improvements in classroom participation. Almost all students reported that the course changed their social/political beliefs and actions. These results compare favorably to results from a traditional introductory geoscience course that show significant drops in confidence and interest, and no improvement in classroom participation. %8 2000-06-01