INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL MAPPING TECHNOLOGY INTO A TRADITIONAL SUMMER FIELD GEOLOGY COURSE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Bowling Green State University introduced GPS and GIS into its summer field course in 1998 using Pocket PC's with PC-card GPS receivers. Since then, we have moved to ruggedized tablet PC's. Along the way, we encountered a number of hurdles ranging from equipment and software issues to skeptical faculty. Below, we describe lessons learned, best practices, and future goals.

At present, students use ruggedized tablet computers and Bluetooth GPS receivers in about half of their mapping projects. Field data are collected using OneNote and ArcPad while maps are compiled using ArcGIS. Factors in selecting equipment included cost, durability, portability, computing power, display size and daylight visibility. Although almost an order of magnitude more expensive than the Pocket PC's we used initially, we moved to ruggedized tablet PC's for their larger display, where smaller details can be seen in the context of larger features, and their ability to run GIS applications natively. Moving to tablets also allowed us to eliminate the laptop computers we used with the Pocket PC's thereby offsetting a good portion of the additional cost of the tablets. Use of the hardware and software poses a steep learning curve for both students and faculty; however, once up to speed, the reward is greater productivity. On the whole, students prefer digital mapping to traditional paper maps. A danger with the technology (e.g., GPS) is that students become totally dependent on it. Care must be taken to make them aware of the limitations of the technology and to ensure that they also learn traditional skills like map reading. After experimenting with different combinations of GIS software, we found mapping points (stations) and lines (contacts) in the field with ArcPad and compiling the final map back at camp with ArcGIS to be most efficient. Constructing polygons of map units in ArcMap proved too time-consuming and frustrating for students without any previous GIS experience.

In the future, we would like to expand the number of projects that incorporate technology into field work; however, a limiting factor will be the willingness and enthusiasm of faculty and the background of students in areas like GIS. Because technology is progressing faster than the faculty/student's ability to use it, realistic goals must be set for incorporating it into a field course.