WHAT WE LEARNED IN THE PANDEMIC: LESSONS FROM A SOCIALLY DISTANCED HYBRID FIELD CAMP

In the summer of 2020, the Westminster College Geology Program redesigned its field geology course to be compliant with state and federal guidelines for COVID safety. In order to safely run an in-person field course we used principles of backward design to separate those course learning goals that could be achieved remotely from those best suited to field experience. We also reconceptualized the student experience to make the most efficient use of field time in order to limit student interaction. Our resulting course included students in the process of planning field excursions. Whereas most field camps begin students in the field, ours gave students puzzles based on local geology and required them to determine the data they would need to collect in order to solve those puzzles and where to go to collect that data. Students spent less time stumbling aimlessly through the wilderness than in a traditional field camp and more time thinking like geologists about how to make efficient use of their time. In order to accommodate students who were unable or unwilling to join a particular field day, we created mechanisms for students to participate remotely as well.

Analysis of student work as well as exit surveys from participating students showed that, although students were appreciative of the efforts that went to creating this hybrid field camp, they preferred in-person days to on-line days. Students rated the on-line content highly in terms of meeting the course learning goals, but were concerned that this content was not well organized and had some unclear instruction. In retrospect, this is a fair critique and gives us an area for improvement in the future. Students who participated in field days remotely reported that they felt able to meet the day’s goals through that remote participation. In the future, these remote participation opportunities will be built into other programmatic field trips in order to provide opportunities for inclusion for students unable to participate in more traditional field experiences. Moving forward, we anticipate keeping, but improving, the on-line content for the course and keeping the hybrid format. This format required students to work together to break complex tasks into individually achievable goals, mimicking the division of labor that occurs in authentic geological research.