Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively

Carleton College, Northfield, MN

Visualization Researchers Web-Sites

Barbara G. Tversky, cognitive psychologist. ( This site may be offline. ) Professor of psychology at Stanford University, Barbara Tversky's research addresses memory, spatial cognition and language. Specific topics of interest include picture memory and pictorial representations, imagery, spatial thinking, spatial language, cognitive maps and graphs, recollections and eye witness testimony.

Daniel R. Montello, geographer and psychologist. Montello's research is centered on environmental psychology and behavioral geography including cognitive issues in cartography and GIS. Professor of geography at UC Santa Barbara, some of his specific interests include spatial learning and development, individual and group-related differences and similarities in spatial abilities, map perception and cognition, spatial reasoning and problem-solving, and distance and direction knowledge.

Yael Kali, science and technology educator. ( This site may be offline. ) Yael Kali's work focuses on cognitive aspects of learning earth sciences, the design and development of computer-based tools, and curricula related to these subjects. Kali is a senior lecturer in Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, Israel.

David H. Uttal, cognitive psychologist. Assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern University, Uttal's research is focused on cognitive development, particularly the development of symbolic and spatial reasoning, and cultural differences in mathematics cognition and achievement.

Jim Slotta, education researcher. A professional researcher in the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, Jim Slotta leads a team of researchers, teachers, and technology specialists in developing the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE). WISE provides a technology-rich environment that supports students and teachers as they perform cognitively informed inquiry projects.

Michelle Hall-Wallace, geoscience educator and geophysist. Assistant professor of geology at the University of Arizona, Hall-Wallace is also director of the SAGUARO Project (formerly SAGE). SAGUARO utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) software to conduct investigations of earth and environmental systems. She is also engaged in learning assessment associated with the visualization modules built through SAGUARO.

Kim A. Kastens, geoscience education researcher. Kasten's research in Earth & Environmental Science at Columbia University is focused on improving the public's understanding of Earth systems. Her work includes training journalists and teachers, utilizing information technology to change the way we learn, and investigating the processes by which we understand and communicate using maps (through the Where are We? project).

[link http://www.psychology.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core/profiles/david-rapp.html'David N. Rapp, cognitive psychologist.' ] Assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, David Rapp's research focus is higher-order cognitive processes. His work aims to improve the development of multimedia tools, aid information processing, and inform design of educational methodologies.

Michael Piburn, science education researcher. A professor of science education at Arizona State University, Piburn's research is aimed at gaining an understanding of how students engage logical reasoning and problem solving.

Janice Gobert, Science Education Reseacher. Gobert is principal investigator in 'Making Thinking Visible', a large-scale design study involving middle and high school students who collaborated on-line about plate tectonic activity in widely separated geographic locations.

Kirsten Butcher, cognitive psychologist NCAR/UCAR postdoctoral fellow, Butcher's research addresses multimedia learning, especially focused on: 1) expert, intermediate, and novice use of scientific visualizations, 2) the effects of interactivity and animation in visualizations, and 3) the current state of visual resources in digital libraries.

Eric Frost, geoscientist and geoscience education researcher Eric Frost is professor of geology and visualization at San Diego State University. Frost is director of the Visualization Laboratory, primarily designed for teaching and research using visualization in the areas of tectonics, fluid flow modeling, GIS, remote sensing, seismology, and environmental geology. Frost is also active in assessment and determining how technology can impact and enhance student learning.

Stephen J. Reynolds, geoscientist and geoscience education researcher (more info) geology professor at Arizona State University, Steve Reynolds creates visualizations to use in his undergraduate geoscience classes. Reynolds also conducts collaborative research on the effectiveness of visualizations in developing spatial literacy in students.