This culture makes it harder for some students to feel that they belong (Malm, 2021), and we know that experiences of positive relationships are important for student learning (Felten and Lambert, 2020). Unfortunately, there is also a long history of propagating stereotypes of what a “successful geoscientist” looks like (“checkered button-down shirts and a beard,” as we have heard colleagues say to first-year students). When students become overwhelmed with such practical issues, it takes focus and energy away from learning disciplinary knowledge and skills (Orion and Hofstein, 1994). Orion and Hofstein (1994) suggest that the educational effectiveness of fieldwork depends on both the fieldwork’s quality-the structure and quality of teaching-and the students’ familiarity with the fieldwork setting, which they refer to as “novelty space.” Fieldwork in geoscience usually takes place outdoors (in our case on research ships) and often requires a lot of previous experience to be comfortable and successful (e.g., knowing how to dress according to weather, hike in difficult terrain, lift heavy equipment, use manuals to operate scientific instruments).

For many students, there is a wide gap between what they learn through participation in a field course and what they need to be able to do later in more independent fieldwork. However, for various reasons, not all students take advantage of all opportunities within the scope of the fieldwork.

The dominant discourse among geoscience teachers is also that “‘fieldwork is good’ for both social and academic purposes” (Malm, 2021). In post-fieldwork surveys, our students at the Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway, typically describe their fieldwork using words such as instructive, exciting, fun, interesting, good experience, cooperation. Many students are excited to join fieldwork and find it motivating and relevant for their future careers. In geosciences, fieldwork is a traditional way to teach various applications of disciplinary knowledge and practical skills and to introduce students to the scientific method (Malm, 2021). Made the cruise more fun and productive, because it made me pursue tasks and conversations that I would not have engaged in without the bingo, and I learned a good amount of new things.

Participation classroom bingo chart