HR: 1340h
AN: ED33B-1214    [Abstracts]
TI: Studying Geology of Central Texas through Web-Based Virtual Field Trips
AU: * Chan, C
EM: Christina.Chan@mail.uh.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd., Houston, TX 77204-5007, United States
AU: Khan, S D
EM: sdkhan@uh.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd., Houston, TX 77204-5007, United States
AU: Wellner, J S
EM: jwellner@uh.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd., Houston, TX 77204-5007, United States
AB: Each year over 2500 students, mainly non-science majors, take introductory geology classes at the University of Houston. Optional field trips to Central Texas for these classes provide a unique learning opportunity for students to experience geologic concepts in a real world context. The field trips visit Enchanted Rock, Inks Lake, Bee Cave Road, Lion Mountain, and Slaughter Gap. Unfortunately, only around 10% of our students participate in these field trips. We are developing a web-based virtual field trip for Central Texas to provide an additional effective learning experience for students in these classes. The module for Enchanted Rock is complete and consists of linked geological maps, satellite imagery, digital elevation models, 3-D photography, digital video, and 3-D virtual reality visualizations. The ten virtual stops focus on different geologic process and are accompanied by questions and answers. To test the efficacy of the virtual field trip, we developed a quiz to measure student learning and a survey to evaluate the website. The quiz consists of 10 questions paralleling each stop and information on student attendance on the Central Texas field trip and/or the virtual field trip. From the survey, the average time spent on the website was 26 minutes, and overall the ratings of the virtual field trip were positive. Most noticeably students responded that the information on the website was relevant to their class and that the pictures, figures, and animations were essential to the website. Although high correlation coefficients between responses were expected for some questions (i.e., 0.89 for "The content or text of the website was clear" and "The information on the website was easy to read"), some correlations were less expected: 0.77 for "The number of test questions was appropriate" and "The information on the website was easy to read," and 0.70 for "The test questions reinforced the material presented on the website" and "The information on the website is relevant to my class." These virtual field trips provide an alternative for students who cannot attend the actual field trips. They also allow transfer students to experience these sites before attending upper level field trips, which often return to study these sites in more detail. These modules provide a valuable supplementary experience for all students, as they emphasize skills for which we are presently unable to provide sufficient practice in lecture, fieldtrips, or laboratory. Public access to the field trips is available at: http://geoinfo.geosc.uh.edu/VR/
UR: http://geoinfo.geosc.uh.edu/VR/
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting