Abstract
Student participation in geoscience at the undergraduate level and online field trips allow across the world to access geological outcrops and experiences even when they are confined at home or field trips are logistical impossibilities and the impact on the quality of the student experience in terms of learning and engagement is major and negative. Field experience is a way of spatial thinking and fundamental to geoscience education but is presently lacking prior to the third year of the curriculum. To mitigate the absence of field experience, we propose the use of online field experiences (VFEs): web-based investigations that approximate field experiences via inquiry-based exploration of geoscientific principles. Field data ranging in scale from gigapan photographs to photomicrographs are gathered from a location of interest, and the information is displayed in a hyperlinked presentation that allows students to explore the data in a nonlinear fashion. Analysis of student quantitative and qualitative feedback on the pilot VFE to emphasize the visualization aspect of geoscience with technologies address a range of geoscience principles ranging from introductory to advanced levels of study. Implementation of VFEs will result in improved student ability to: Develop an approach for investigating a field site; Explain geologic processes and their resulting geographical features,Identify and analyze rocks in hand sample and in the laboratory; Describe relationships between rock sections and outcrops; Visualize three-dimensional structures such as stratigraphic sequences, faults and folds; Engage in open-ended problem solving; Communicate the foregoing to peers in the scientific community.
Presenters
Afsoon KazerouniProfessor, Center for Sustainability Studies, Bemidji State University, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Considering Digital Pedagogies
KEYWORDS
Geoscience, Undergraduate, Virtual field trips, Spatial thinking, Digital Pedagogical Tradition
