ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIRTUAL EXPLORATION IN GOOGLE EARTH AND SPATIAL REASONING IN INTRODUCTORY GEOSCIENCE

The benefits of transforming traditional lecture college courses into active learning environments has been well documented. Engaging students with a more hands-on approach by instituting in-class exercises, group activities and interactive lectures allows students to improve critical and scientific thinking skills. Utilizing virtual exploration exercises along with group interaction is one active learning technique that was implemented in an introductory geology course of 140 students at the University of Kansas. Virtual Earth exploration has been shown to increase students’ conceptual understanding of geologic phenomena. Due to low cost, accessibility and user friendly format, Google Earth was implemented as the virtual exploration program for the semester long course. The goals of utilizing Google Earth were: 1) increased understanding and comprehension of phenomena, 2) increased scientific observation and reporting, 3) improved map skills and spatial reasoning. To actively gauge the effectiveness of the Google Earth activities, we collected background information regarding students’ understanding and use frequency of virtual map programs and 3-D navigation. We test the hypothesis that students with different backgrounds and experiences would have varied levels of success when utilizing Google Earth for geoscience learning, and seek to establish differences in the value of Google Earth exploration for group versus individual activities.