USE OF HYDROLOGIC FIELD EQUIPMENT TO ENHANCE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND SCIENTIFIC LITERACY OF POST SECONDARY STUDENTS

The objective of this project was to develop laboratory exercises for undergraduate and graduate students involving basic hydrologic field equipment. The instruments that were made available to the students include a few on-campus water monitoring wells, a set of pH, Conductivity, TDS, and Dissolved Oxygen meters, surface water sampler, on-site water analytical kits, soil moisture probe, groundwater purging and bailing equipment, water table depth finder, and some dye tracing tools. The primary goal of the project was to present the groundwater and surface water processes to students in a way that is more easily understandable than from lectures delivered in classroom.

The project was helpful for students to develop critical thinking skills and scientific literacy. Students were involved in hands-on activities, such as water sampling, on-site chemical analysis, well purging, preparing flow-nets, mapping water table contours, measuring stream discharge, measuring inflow of nutrients in lakes, etc. Also, they studied groundwater flow by injecting dyes, and ion tracers such as bromide and chloride. The well site served as a link between the classroom learning of concepts and their actual field application. They learned through their activities that land use practices could cause surface and subsurface water pollution and bring about serious environmental consequences. The students had an opportunity to work as a team. They experienced the very essence of science, which consists of elements like curiosity, developing hypotheses, observation, synthesis of observed data, reasoning, offering constructive arguments, and conclusions. The outcome of the project was evaluated by distributing objective questionnaire on the subject, giving examinations, and conducting interviews. It was observed that the hands-on activities considerably enhanced student learning. It was also found that exposure to analytical procedures significantly added to their understanding of scientific concepts, and in some cases changed their previously held misconceptions.