PLAYING IN THE SAND: THE AR SANDBOX AS AN INTERACTIVE TOPOGRAPHIC LESSON

The daily use of technology has become the norm in modern society. The simplicity of cellular phones and GPS navigation systems in our digital age has resulted in a new challenge for educators teaching topographic maps. Visualizing landforms from a 2-dimensional map and understanding the basic concept of contour intervals has become increasingly troublesome for many students new to the geosciences. Research has shown that undergraduate students have significant difficulties understanding how to interpret information presented on topographic maps. In the last several years, as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have become more accessible to classrooms, researchers are seeing an improvement in student learning through their use. AR used in various STEM fields has improved teacher and student collaboration, and has been especially useful in facilitating the learning of three-dimensional forms. In the last couple of years, AR sandboxes have been popping up across the nation in museums, universities, and schools. This project will assess the educational effectiveness of the AR sandbox by directly comparing it with a traditional topographic map lesson. Based on the educational successes of AR, and the growing popularity of the AR sandbox, we suggest that this cutting edge tool will result in improved student understanding of topographic maps and can easily be integrated with already existing geology 101 labs. We are adapting an introductory paper topographic map lab from geology 101 classes to include the AR sandbox while maintaining the same questions and exercises. After students complete the traditional paper and AR-adapted labs, we will qualitatively assess student perception of the experiences. Students typically look at a paper map and have trouble visualizing the landforms; therefore for them to be able to view and manipulate the map in three dimensions (by playing in the sand) is interactive, engaging and exciting.