COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: BRINGING PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE FIELD INTO THE CLASSROOM: DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS FOR TEACHING INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOLOGY AND SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY

Field trips in geology courses offer students the opportunity to see and experience geological processes first-hand. For most physical geology classes taking students into the field is limited by time constraints and financial considerations. Students in two-year colleges may be especially limited by logistical issues. Despite the conflicting concept of “virtual” and “actual” field trip, and the uncertainties associated with the implementation and effectiveness, virtual trips provide the easiest way to reach a large diversified student population. With rapidly improving web and visualization technology, field trips can be simulated virtually. This project is developing, implementing, and assessing a series of virtual field trips for teaching undergraduate sedimentary geology at a large four-year research university and introductory geology at a large two-year community college. Coastal Florida offers a unique setting for the facilitation of learning about a variety of modern sedimentary environments. Virtual coastal field trips are being produced for both an introductory physical geology course and an upper-level sedimentary geology course. The educational outcome of the virtual field trip will be compared to that from actual field trip. This presentation summarizes Year 1 achievements of the three-year project. The filming, editing, and initial production of the virtual field trip have been completed. Formative assessments were conducted by the Coalition for Science Literacy at the University of South Florida. Once tested and refined, the virtual field trips will be disseminated through broadly used web portals and workshops at regional and national meetings.