Amid the shift to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across disciplines were faced with developing new strategies for active learning. This article discusses findings from a case study of using Google Earth for virtual field trips and projects in an undergraduate Geography of North America course, assessing the process of…

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is regarded as one of the contemporary technological innovations with rich educational potential. As a subset of IVR, spherical video-based IVR (SV-IVR) immerses users centrally in a human-recorded real-world environment, allowing them to explore the environment in any directions via mobile phones and cardboard…

In the Australian state of Victoria, the city of Melbourne endured the world's longest number of lockdown days, with severe government health orders and travel restrictions in place for extended periods of 2020 and 2021. In common with others, we found the provision of field teaching in introductory geology, structural geology, and volcanology,…

Geological skills such as interpreting outcrops are often taught during fieldwork. However, recent advancements in digital technologies and the demand for more inclusive and accessible learning has provided an opportunity to teach these skills in virtual field trips (VFT). The Iceland VFT was developed to teach students about volcanic features and…

Bicultural research is important for disaster education in Aotearoa NZ. Historically, deficit-based perspectives of Western Science underrepresent Maori knowledge. However, culturally grounded research partnerships have potential to revitalize engagement with Maori by braiding Indigenous Science and Western Science narratives to improve our…

Students completing an introductory physical geography course used an interactive geovisualizations (iGEO) lab exercise centered around lightning in northern Arizona to investigate atmospheric processes. This iGEO looks and plays like a conventional videogame where the student controls an avatar in a 3D environment. This iGEO was inspired by…

The main objective of the physical geography is to give a meaning to the natural environment. It is only possible with the implementation of the observation method to make the students perfectly understand the physical geography topics, in laboratory environments allowing the participation of all senses in teaching activity. In physical geography…

The emergence of new technological innovations in classroom has brought about greater changes in pedagogy especially in concepts related to abstraction such as Geography. Geography teaching and learning particularly elements of physical Geography, is mostly approached in a conventional pedagogical manner even as the concept consist abstractions.…

The long geological time needed for landform development and evolution poses a challenge for understanding and appreciating the processes involved. The Web-based Interactive Landform Simulation Model--Grand Canyon (WILSIM-GC, http://serc.carleton.edu/landform/) is an educational tool designed to help students better understand such processes,…

Seafloor exploration being done by scientists is an ideal way to introduce students to technology as a tool for inquiry. The same technology that allows scientists to share data in near real time can also provide students the tools to become researchers. NOAA's Ocean Explorer Explorations website is a rich research data bank that can be used by…

Creating effective computer-based learning exercises requires an understanding of optimal user interface designs for improving higher order cognitive skills. Using an online volcanic crisis simulation previously shown to improve decision making skill, we find that a user interface using a graphical presentation of the volcano monitoring data…

Multidisciplinary courses are being developed at a number of US colleges and universities to highlight the connections between the rise or fall of world civilizations and the sustainable or unsustainable uses of soil and water resources. The content presented in these courses is complex because it includes concepts from disciplines as varied as…

A computer modeling course in environmental systems and dynamics is presented. The course teaches senior undergraduates to analyze a system of interest, construct a system flow chart, and write computer programs to simulate real world environmental processes. An example is presented along with a course evaluation, figures, tables, and references.…

Reviews seven computer software programs that can be used in science education programs. Describes courseware which deals with muscles and bones, terminology, classifying animals without backbones, molecular structures, drugs, genetics, and shaping the earth's surface. (TW)