The augmented reality (AR) sandbox bridges the gap between two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) visualization by projecting a digital topographic map onto a sandbox landscape. As the landscape is altered, the map dynamically adjusts, providing an opportunity to discover how to read topographic maps. We tested the hypothesis that the AR…

Learning with Web-based geographic information system (Web GIS) can promote geospatial thinking and analysis of georeferenced data. Web GIS can enable learners to analyze rich data sets to understand spatial relationships that are managed in georeferenced data visualizations. We developed a Web GIS plate tectonics simulation as a capstone learning…

Spatial thinking skills are critical to success in many subdisciplines of the geosciences. We tested students' spatial skills in geoscience courses at three institutions (a public research university, a comprehensive university, and a liberal arts college, all in the midwest) over a two-year period. We administered standard psychometric tests of…

Research about geologic time conceptions generally focuses on the placement of events on the geologic timescale, with few studies dealing with the duration of geologic processes or events. Those studies indicate that students often have very poor conceptions about temporal durations of geologic processes, but the reasons for that are relatively…

Cognitive science research shows that the brain has two systems for processing visual information, one specialized for spatial information such as position, orientation, and trajectory, and the other specialized for information used to identify objects, such as color, shape and texture. Some individuals seem to be more facile with the spatial…

Constructing concept sketches (diagrams annotated with short captions in which students demonstrate their understanding of form, process, and interactions) provides a new and different way to teach Earth surface processes and assess the depth of student learning. During a semester-long course in Geomorphology, we used concept sketches as an…

This article describes a one-week introduction to stochastic groundwater modeling, intended for the end of a first course on groundwater hydrology, or the beginning of a second course on stochastic hydrogeology or groundwater modeling. The motivation for this work is to strengthen groundwater education, which has been identified among the factors…

Teaching Earth science without exposure to rock outcrops limits students depth of understanding of Earth's processes, limits the concept of scale from their spatial visualization imaging, and distorts their perception of geologic time (Totten 2003). Through a grant funded by the National Science Foundation, an artificial rock outcrop was…