EXPANDING THE DISCOVERY PROCESS BY USING VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTS TO CREATE STUDENT-OWNED DATA SETS

The scientific process can be introduced effectively to students via the manipulation of extensive data sets, e.g. identification of magmatic process using whole rock geochemistry. Although more common in upper level geology courses, data manipulation and analysis can be an effective teaching tool in introductory level Earth science classes as well. However, data sets are often unavailable for exploring many of the topics introduced in introductory classes, e.g. Snell’s law, Darcy’s law, the wavelength-wave base relationship. At the same time, lab or lecture experiments that can produce such data are difficult to design. In these cases, virtual experiments can be created that allow students to explore natural phenomena in virtual space and to create their own datasets. Using these “datasets”, students can develop many fundamental geologic relationships themselves. This discovery process is more effective at teaching geologic processes than readings or lecture. Properly constructed virtual experiments allow students to pursue all the tasks a real experiment involves, i.e. determine experimental conditions, collect data, analyze and plot data. They also allow students to conduct experiments that could not be performed in the real world because of concerns about time, safety, space and expense. Although virtual experiments can be constructed using a variety of technologies, I have constructed a series of virtual experiments using Macromedia’s Flash. Flash virtual experiments are standalone, platform-independent applications of small file sizes and deliverable via the Web or on CD. They can be constructed for any natural phenomena described by a mathematical relationship. For introductory students, the data sets assembled from these virtual experiments have several advantages over real data sets. In particular, there are no data “outliers” to confuse students and deflect discussion from the phenomena being studied. In addition, the amount of “error” in the measurements can be varied programmatically thereby allowing the concept of experimental “error” to be introduced only after students are comfortable with data acquisition, manipulation and interpretation. Flash virtual experiments involving Snell’s law and the wavelength-wave base relationship have been developed and will be demonstrated.