VIRTUAL VS. REAL: HOW DO STUDENTS BEST LEARN ABOUT ESTUARINE CIRCULATION?

Puget Sound is a complicated estuary and an excellent place to learn oceanography. In a partnership program with educational researchers at the University of Washington, Ocean Inquiry Project (OIP) is using a virtual learning environment based on a numerical-model of Puget Sound in introductory college level classes. OIP also provides students field-based research experiences on Puget Sound, sampling the Sound at a number of monitoring stations during day-long field trips. The learning goals for either technique are the same: understanding and appreciation of tidally driven currents and stratification in the Sound. However, the data (and tools for accessing and rendering them) are quite different between the two techniques, one being generated by computer and the other measured by the students themselves.

We are evaluating classes using each technique exclusively, as well as in combination, to understand which technique is most useful to understanding these concepts. The content of both classes is essentially the same, but students in one class learn the material by interacting with a computer model, and students in another class learn by interacting with instruments. The evaluation of each class is done identically with tests and concept maps and the design of this study will allow us to elucidate the differences between learning via computerized curriculum and learning in the field. Results from a side-by-side test of computer vs. field will be presented.