ADDING ACTIVE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING THE AR SANDBOX, TO INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY LABS

The University of West Georgia’s Physical Geology Lab course is a standalone one-credit hour hands-on laboratory course that meets university core science requirements. For the past several years, course content had included a three-week lab unit centered on reading and interpreting topographic maps in order to understand the development of a range of geologic landforms, including river systems, shorelines, and glacial processes. Labs within this unit are being updated to promote more immersive active-learning opportunities that will assist students in developing their spatial thinking abilities. These include more use of Google Earth imagery, using an Emriver Em3 stream table to demonstrate active stream processes, and the construction of an “Augmented Reality” (AR) Sandbox (created by Oliver Kreylos at the UC-Davis Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization) to replace much of the original topographic map lab content, including principles of topographic contours and landform development. The AR Sandbox allows users to create three-dimensional topographic models in sand that change in real time as the sand is disturbed. Use of the AR Sandbox was piloted in Fall 2017 labs and consisted of both unstructured “free play” in small student groups and instructor-guided exercises that involved relating topographic lines to slope steepness, demonstrating stream drainage patterns, and determining the “Rule of V’s” for streamflow, among other topics. New activities utilizing the capabilities of the AR Sandbox are currently under development and will be piloted in the Spring 2018 lab classes; objectives will include asking students to create accurate cross-sections of landforms within the Sandbox model, and to produce a three-dimensional representation of landforms present on a two-dimensional topographic map. This presentation will focus on the impacts on pedagogy, student experiences, and the challenges encountered as this technology is implemented within the course.