CAN VIRTUAL FIELD EXPERIENCES HELP TWO-YEAR COLLEGE (2YC) STUDENTS BETTER MANAGE FIELD-RELATED ANXIETIES AND ACHIEVE COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES?

Managing the social, academic, and environmental aspects of field-based activities raises the cognitive load that geoscience students carry while engaged in learning. This load is especially significant among students with limited experience in the natural environment. Because two-year colleges often serve students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, limited field experience is very common among those enrolled. Without prior experiences to draw upon, students engaging in field activities for the first time are likely to experience increased levels of anxiety and perceive significant feelings of unpreparedness.

Prior to 2020, virtual field experiences (VFEs) saw limited use as substitutes for traditional field experiences. However, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the development of new VFEs providing students with alternatives to the traditional field activities prohibited by social distancing protocols. These new VFEs integrate technologies that make them more accessible than ever before. We decided to test the effectiveness of VFEs as a tool for reducing trip-related anxieties among 2YC students with little or no field experience. We deployed web-based VFEs to students enrolled at a 2YC in Northern California. The VFE consisted of a tour along the route of a weeklong field trip through the Mojave Desert. Students were asked to rate their perceived feelings of anxiety on a Likert scale before and after exposure to the VFE.

These survey data suggest that VFEs could be useful for decreasing perceived feelings of anxiety, particularly when associated with social interactions (e.g. meeting new people, working in groups, working with instructors), academics (e.g. knowledge/experience, data collection, field techniques, observation skills, note taking), and the physical environment (e.g. weather conditions, accessibility, personal gear, bathroom access, meals). VFEs appear to also increase feelings of preparedness regarding academics and anticipating the physical environment.

Thus, VFEs may have valuable applications in the undergraduate classroom beyond as a 1:1 field experience substitute: VFEs could be leveraged as a tool for easing students' perceived feelings of anxiety prior to traditional field trips with promising implications for retaining geoscience majors at 2YCs.