ADVANTAGES OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VISUALIZATION WITH REAL-TIME DATA COLLECTION USING TABLET-BASED APPLICATIONS

The sed-strat/structural geology course sequence at Lafayette College emphasizes spatial thinking and visualization of field problems using tablet-based Apps that we have developed. StratLogger and GeoFieldBook assist students in this type of learning with live-updated spatial displays of field data in the form of stratigraphic columns and structural maps (strike/dip, etc.) on a geo-referenced base map. By allowing students to view their growing dataset in map form or column while in the field, they progress more rapidly towards synthesis and interpretation of the data as well as an understanding of complex 4D field relationships.

Using the image base and on board GPS, GeoFieldBook records observations and then immediately displays them on the image base with strike/dip, fault or joint symbols correctly oriented and colored. The user can select from five different structural data situations: contact, bedding, fault, joints and “other”. Each project is stored in a “folder” and observations are stored as individual field measurements within each folder. The information gathered depends on the nature of the observation, but common to all observations is the ability to log date, time, and lat/long directly from the tablet. Imagess can also be linked to and displayed within each record. Once the field collection is complete the data (including images) can be easily exported to a .csv file for use in other analysis programs.

In StratLogger, students gather bed-by-bed lithologic data through a measured section and simultaneously see a live-built column display of beds in the context of one another. Students continually compare the accumulated data in the column with their mental library of facies models - visualizing a variety of dynamic depositional systems and their lateral heterogeneity that may be responsible for the succession in question. Looking at the full data display may help students recognize sedimentary cycles or unidirectional trends within sequences as well.

Assessment of these apps toward pedagogical goals of understanding spatially and temporally complex field areas is ongoing. Early results suggest that the real-time spatial and temporal perspective, as well as a series of integrated interpretation prompts, leads students toward more active hypothesis creation and testing while in the field.