DIGITAL GEOLOGIC MAPPING - STUDENT AND TEACHER EXPERIENCE OF MIDLAND VALLEY'S FIELDMOVE APPLICATION

As Universities have deployed the FieldMove application for digital field mapping within teaching and research programs, feedback has been received on the usability of such programs and their value, or otherwise, to the student experience. FieldMove was released at the beginning of 2011 with the aim replicating, and enhancing upon, the traditional paper basemap and notebook geological mapping procedure. Although tried and tested by generations of undergraduate earth science students, mapping on paper has disadvantages when compared to a digital workflow. Principle amongst them being the need the time spent “inking-in” the paper map in the evening and the production of a fair copy map. Through Midland Valley’s Academic Software Initiative (ASI), where the Move structural modelling and analysis software is provided free of charge, a number of Universities have begun to map digitally on tablet PCs using FieldMove. Opinions on the utility of incorporating digital mapping within standard undergraduate programs vary from strong sceptics to equally devout proponents. While a number of teachers and students have valued the potential time saving further down the line, some have struggled with software and hardware issues that have compromised the mapping experience in the field. Notable issues encountered include the difficulty in using new software in the field, especially if time has not been allocated to learn beforehand, as well as frustration when not able to annotate the digital basemap exactly as desired. Common hardware complaints include limited battery life, with the logistical challenges of charging in the evening and difficulty reading tablet screens in bright sunlight. However, perhaps the biggest concern amongst teachers is the potential distraction factor, with students caught up in the technology, rather than concentrating with the geology at hand. While there will always be pros and cons of any mapping approach over the other, we have found that by making changes to FieldMove program, based on user feedback, we have received significantly more positive comments recently, when compared to the original 2011 release.