INCORPORATING GIS-BASED AUTHENTIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN A LECTURE-BASED GEOLOGY COURSE FOR NON-MAJORS

Effectively incorporating authentic research activities in introductory level, non-lab, general education science courses can be challenging as well as rewarding for both the instructor and students. Such an attempt was made in a course entitled "Volcanoes" at UW-Whitewater. A project was designed to 1) introduce students to the practice of monitoring volcanoes using seismicity, 2) provide hands-on experience in using GIS techniques for viewing, analyzing and synthesizing seismic data in 2-D space, 3) provide an opportunity to practice writing research abstracts in a professional format, 4) provide a safe forum for presenting their work to a general audience, and 5) evaluate the work of their peers as well as their own learning experience. The project mainly required students, working in pairs, to regularly monitor and record seismic activities of specific volcanoes using on-line resources, and to map the earthquake location data using GIS. A geography senior specializing in GIS techniques was the teaching assistant for the course, and was responsible for the technical aspects of the project.

The GIS component of the project turned out to be the major challenge for the project. Even though students realized the importance of using GIS, many of them did not meet this particular learning goal. A weeks' worth of class time before the poster session was set aside for students to use departmental computer facilities for their GIS work. Many students did not avail themselves of this opportunity until faced with severe grade reduction. Several of those who attended the GIS help sessions felt overwhelmed by the technicalities involved despite the best efforts of the teaching assistant. In order to successfully incorporate a GIS aspect in similar future projects, more GIS training sessions may be needed throughout the semester, which may potentially detract from other course-related activities.

The excitement and energy demonstrated by the students during the poster session underscored the success of the project. From the posters, it was apparent that many students achieved a deeper understanding of their research topics that would not have been possible using lectures and in-class discussions alone. In self-evaluations, most students reported that projects were enjoyable and helped them relate course content to the real world.