HR: 08:25h
AN: ED31A-02    [PDF]
TI: ENHANCEMENT OF SPATIAL UNDERSTANDING IN AN INTRODUCTORY FIELD METHODS PROJECT THROUGH A GEOWALL INTERVENTION
AU: * Riggs, N R
EM: nancy.riggs@nau.edu
AF: Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Geology PO Box 4099, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 United States
AU: Kelly, M M
EM: design@mmkaa.com
AF: MMKAA Inc., 3354 N. Crest, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 United States
AB: The implementation of the GeoWall (www.geowall.org) in introductory geology labs as a visualization tool is on the increase at the undergraduate level. We report on a new project that examines how introductory field students' understanding of basic mapping skills may change after a GeoWall intervention. GLG 240 is a required field methods course for students majoring in Geology at Northern Arizona University. In this class, students learn to describe different kinds of rocks, self locate on a topographic map, use a Brunton compass, and map relatively simple geologic structures. The class is a prerequisite to upper-division classes (mineralogy, petrology, structure, etc) and is open to any student who has completed physical and historical geology. In the Fall semester 2003, we will implement the GeoWall 3D visualization technology in critical sections of GLG 240 dealing with students' perception of terrain and geologic relations. In this study we examine one of these GeoWall interventions that centers on a field exercise done on SP Crater, a young cinder cone and flow north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The goals of the exercise are an increase in student confidence in self location, a sense of how scale varies between different media (aerial photographs, topographic sheets) and distance on the ground, and an ability to follow and map contacts between Paleozoic bedrock, old and young volcanic rocks, and alluvium. This exercise has been relatively unchanged with the same instructor over the last five years. Assessment of student learning has also remained steady: rubrics were established early and applied to a student written report comprising maps, figures, and written geologic analysis. The GeoWall intervention will occur during a pre-field exercise that occurs in the laboratory. Students map contacts and describe the geologic setting of SP Crater using black and white, stereo, 1:25000 aerial photographs and mylar overlays. The intervention adds to this instruction by requiring the students to individually use a stereo 3D visualization of SP Crater rendered with the commercially available ROMA software in the GeoWall. The intervention includes an assessment instrument delivered inside the GeoWall that requires students to "fly" to various predetermined points of interest and describe the geologic setting at those points using well-defined rules. The lab exercise is followed by a day-long field trip to SP Crater, where the students complete a field mapping day. Additionally, we will make the GeoWall available to students during the report-writing phase of this exercise in the following week. We will analyze previous student spatial performance as measured by previous written reports over the last five years, and compare them with this group. Additionally we will report on qualitative measures of students' interest and motivation in field geology and perceptions of the usefulness of spatial technology in their learning and future careers in geology.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting