INSIDE THE STEREONET: TEACHING 3D SPATIAL COGNITION IN STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY USING THE IMMERSIVE PLANETARIUM ENVIRONMENT

Understanding and practicing the geosciences requires three-dimensional cognition even though a geoscientist’s work often deals with three-dimensional data only in a limited way. Two-dimensional information such as outcrop and mineral surfaces, field and laboratory images of geological features, and microscopy, is correlated to determine 3D relationships, and although more interactive than static images, rock thin sections on the microscope stage are effectively the same as 2D images because they are planar views. Ironically, tools that geologists use to represent three-dimensions (such as maps, structure sections, and a stereographic net) are two-dimensional. Although necessary, these two-dimensional tools limit a student’s comprehension of three-dimensional concepts. That comprehension is further complicated by student experiences prior to such instruction.

Visual penetration ability (VPA) is not usually part of a student’s toolkit before learning geology. Teaching students to develop their 3D cognitive skills has mixed success using the standard tools of geosciences mentioned above. Although it is clearly possible for students to achieve correct results using 3D representations, such as 2D projections (e.g., a stereonet), a deeper understanding of the related 3D relationships is not necessarily achieved, and errors may be common.

Like many colleges and universities, SUNY Buffalo State University has a state-of-the-art planetarium with a perfect hemispherical dome. As digital planetarium systems have advanced, programming has expanded beyond astronomy to other disciplines including the geosciences. While often focusing on visualization of global datasets, use of the planetarium to enhance student understanding of 3D geoscience tools such as stereographic projection has been lacking. In this project, we have developed use of the 3D projection in the planetarium to teach concepts related to stereographic projection. This work presents three years of students in Structural Geology visualizing the stereonet in an immersive way that helps them better understand the three-dimensional relationships represented in the 2D diagram. Our results show student cognition to be increased relative to before we started using the planetarium in this way.