CAPTURING THE MILLENNIAL MIND THROUGH ENGAGING, CONTENT-RICH GOOGLE EARTH FIELD TRIPS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM A FRESHMAN-LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSE

Virtual field trips (VFT’s) using Google Earth have the potential to bring the world into our classrooms, but often fall short of delivering science content in a manner that captures the interest of today’s students, especially when used with traditional lectures and labs. How can VFT’s replace lectures and point-and-click labs to deliver rich science content that engages and informs students? To address this question, a digital library of VFT’s was developed to provide content-enriched experiences for a general education Earth Science course at a two-year college. These VFT’s use the automated touring capabilities of the software, are narrated, and range from 10 to 15 minutes in length. VFT’s are designed with high production values to provide visual experiences that focus on specific topics, such as the life cycle of shield volcanoes or identifying the types of convergent plate boundaries, rather than broad overviews, and are used in place of traditional lectures to promote self-directed learning. Embedded quizzes allow students to self-assess their understanding. As a proof of concept, VFT’s were introduced in a common core online Earth Science course in the summer of 2014 to test feasibility and possible technical issues. Over 80% of students self-reported that VFT’s were a valuable and enjoyable learning tool. In the next phase, VFT’s will be improved based on student feedback and will be infused into both traditional and online classes to further assess their effectiveness. In addition, more student inquiry opportunities will be added.