INEXPENSIVE BUT POWERFUL APPLIED LEARNING FIELD EXPERIENCES: ETEAL IPAD GEOLOGIC MAPPING

ETEAL - Experiencing Transformative Education through Applied Learning - is the Quality Enhancement Plan for UNCW. This plan allows students to readily learn, become stronger critical thinkers, and gain professional skills through hands-on field activities. It uses high-impact research-based instructional strategies and practices to improve applied learning experiences.

Our ETEAL experiences instruct students in state-of-the art digital mapping using a wifi+cellular iPad mini. We target tandem capstone fall-spring-summer B.S. geology field trips. Their Student Learning Outcomes (1) combine traditional field mapping and critical thinking with ease of use, cost effectiveness and digital data capabilities of tablet apps; and (2) link classroom instruction in Earth’s topography, lithology, and structure with modern GPS techniques that professional geologists use to locate themselves. The iPad experiences follow the 8 NSEE Principles of Good Practice for Experiential Learning Activities. Student Critical Reflections and staff assessment tools inform a feedback loop.

Using iPad apps as a fieldbook combined with an in-house app lab manual, we guide students through mapping projects in data observation and digital capture, storage, organization, and analysis. The iPad focuses the field experiences on spatial-temporal lithologic thinking and morphological relationships at the outcrop. It minimizes geopositioning issues due to mapping inexperience, a source of instructor-student frustration in traditional, non-GPS mapping courses. Geologic data sets are still manually digitized on topo basemaps, an exercise we value. They are easily manipulated and changeable for in-the-field discussions on (1) interpreting results with respect to known mapped locations so as to focus on problem solving, and (2) multiple working geo-logic hypotheses. Students may individually adapt data collection apps to their own learning styles and preferences while working with other students and maintaining the integrity of similar map site analysis. This freedom creates student professionalism in thought and judgment on the scientific rigor and validity of their data. While applied learning with iPads has some technical issues, students reflect that their work comes alive in the field when using mapping and drawing apps.