Designing Remote Field Experiences

This website provides an overview of the work of more than 300 (!!) geoscience educators in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to share expertise and existing resources and to develop new resources to support remote or virtual capstone summer field experiences for undergraduate geoscience majors.

This NSF-sponsored project (Award #2029920) is a collaborative effort of NAGT and the IAGD , and involves over 300 field camp directors, instructors, and resources developers around the world.

Jump to Teaching Resources | Learning Outcomes | Recorded Webinars | How to Get Involved | Who We Are

Teaching Resources

  • Master spreadsheet of modules in development: the goal of this document is to help field directors/activity implementers to plan for what will be available and when. If you are a developer, please add your project where appropriate and feel free to add more rows if needed. These modules will eventually live on the SERC Teach the Earth site (below). The goal of this document is to help field directors plan for what will be available and when.
  • New resource collection at Teach the Earth: a new digital clearinghouse for teaching modules and resources is in development at Teaching with Online Field Experiences. This collection also contains some virtual field trips
  • Looking for space in an online camp: a list of 2020 online field camps with space available for displaced students: Summer 2020 virtual field camps.
  • Share your online activity: if you have an online field activity to share, please contribute to the collection.
  • How to contribute: watch a brief, ~5 minute overview of the Teaching with Online Field Experiences site and the contribution process:

Learning Outcomes

Ideally, virtual or remote field experiences could be designed to meet the same learning outcomes as in-person experiences. A subset of this group worked to develop a set of learning outcomes that were flexible enough to accommodate multiple delivery methods while still addressing the expectations of a capstone. These community-developed learning outcomes are listed below.

By the end of a capstone field experience, students should be able to:

  1. Design a field strategy to collect or select data in order to answer a geologic question.
  2. Collect accurate and sufficient data on field relationships and record these using disciplinary conventions (field notes, map symbols, etc.).
  3. Synthesize geologic data and integrate with core concepts and skills into a cohesive spatial and temporal scientific interpretation.
  4. Interpret earth systems and past/current/future processes using multiple lines of spatially distributed evidence.
  5. Develop an argument that is consistent with available evidence and uncertainty.
  6. Communicate clearly using written, verbal, and/or visual media (e.g., maps, cross-sections, reports) with discipline-specific terminology appropriate to your audience.
  7. Work effectively independently and collaboratively (e.g., commitment, reliability, leadership, open for advice, channels of communication, supportive, inclusive).
  8. Reflect on personal strengths and challenges (e.g. in study design, safety, time management, independent and collaborative work).
  9. Demonstrate behaviors expected of professional geoscientists (e.g., time management, work preparation, collegiality, health and safety, ethics).

Recorded Webinars

We have offered a set of informal webinars to facilitate sharing of existing resources and expertise. Note: We are in the process of adding captions to the videos - please stay tuned.

Creating 3D Hand samples (August 10, 2020)

Presenter: Sara Carena

Links to software discussed in the webinar:

Spreadsheet to share resources for teaching with virtual hand samples and to sign up to join relevant email lists

Saturday Webinar for Instructors of Online Camps (July 11, 2020)

Presenters:

  • 12:00 - Kurt Burmeister & Chris Atchison – News & announcements
  • 12:10 - Virginia Toy - One-day module on structural/tectonic analysis of outcrops in Eifel Slate Belt, Germany (tentative)
  • 12:20 - Basil Tikoff - Sage Hen Flat project
  • 12:30 - Discussion on challenges & best practices w/ online instruction

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Saturday Webinar for Instructors of Online Camps (June 27, 2020)

Presenters:

  • 12:00 - Kurt Burmeister & Chris Atchison – News & announcements
  • 12:10 - Alison Duval - Landslide mapping & analysis module
  • 12:20 - Shannon Dulin - Combined stratigraphy/mapping exercise
  • 12:30 - John Geissman - Geology of White Mesa area, Ojito Wilderness, San Ysidro, north-central NM; A splendid introductory field geology mapping exercise
  • 12:40 - John Geissman & Bob Krantz - 20 min discussion on challenges & best practices w/ online instruction

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Links to activities

Links to related digital teaching tools

  • Tool: Tour Builder - Put your story on the map!
  • Tool: Slack - Communication tools for connecting remote teams no matter where you're working from
  • Tool: Solocator - APP for iPhone & Android. GPS Camera takes photos with GPS coordinates, compass direction, altitude & timestamp overlay
  • Tool: ThingLink - Seamlessly make your images, videos, and 360 content interactive with text, links, images, videos to create memorable experiences
  • Tool: EazyZoom - Share huge gigapixel high resolution images
  • Tool: Kuula - 360° virtual tours made easy. Create, edit, share

Links to related articles & "Job Talks" that Shannon Dulin uses to communicate career options to students in her online course offerings

Saturday Webinar for Instructors of Online Camps (June 13, 2020)

Presenters:

  • 12:00 - Kurt Burmeister & Chris Atchison – News & announcements
  • 12:10 - Charly Bank - SIGkit Toolbox
  • 12:20 - Rachel Bosch - Karst Hydrogeology: a virtual field introduction using Google Earth & GIS
  • 12:30 - Rachel Bosch - Karst Hydrogeology & Geomorphology: a virtual field experience using Google Earth, GIS, & TAK
  • 12:40 - Sinan Akciz - Frying Pan Gulch module
  • 12:50 - Sinan Akciz - Block Mountain module

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Saturday Webinar for Instructors of Online Camps (May 30, 2020)

Presenters:

  • 12:00 - Kurt Burmeister & Basil Tikoff – News & announcements
  • 12:10 - Robert Krantz - Reflections on delivery of virtual field camp module with Fort Lewis field camp
  • 12:20 - Joe Meert - Mapping exercise at Ghost Ranch, NM, with GoogleEarth Pro
  • 12:30 - Charly Bank - Magnetometry at Home
  • 12:40 - Ben van der Pluijm - Google Earth Web-based Maryland Appalachians Geology field trip
  • Discussion - initial reflections on online instruction

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Saturday Webinar for Instructors of Online Camps (May 16, 2020)

Presenters:

  • 12:00 - Kurt Burmeister & Chris Atchison - Project overview, what's available, feedback channels
  • 12:10 - Katherine Ryker & Laura Rademacher - Overview of assessment strategies
  • 12:20 - Anne Egger - Overview of Teach the Earth website & submission process
  • 12:30 - Steve Whitmeyer - Virtual Geology Mapping Exercise at Lough Fee
  • 12:40 - Dave Anastasio - Plate game web GIS simulation
  • 12:50 - Nic Barth - Virtual Yosemite

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Tech Thursday Webinar - Virtual Field Trips (May 7, 2020)

Presenters: Steve Semken, Ariel Anbar, Ben van der Plujim, Avery Shinneman

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Tech Thursday Webinar - OpenTopography (April 30, 2020)

Presenters: Ramón Arrowsmith, Christopher Crosby, Chelsea Scott, Daniel Chupik

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Tech Thursday Webinar - Google Earth Opportunities (April 23, 2020)

Presenters: John Bailey, Steve Whitmeyer, and Barb Tewksbury

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Tech Thursday Webinar - Virtual Landscapes & Geologic Map Data Extractor (April 16, 2020)

Presenters: Jacqui Houghton and Rick Allmendinger

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Digital Tools and Strategies Webinar (April 6, 2020)

Presenters: Doug Walker (StraboSpot), Callan Bentley (GigaPans, Google Earth), Paul Karabinos (SketchUp, Geologic Map Data Extractor)

Links to resources discussed in webinar:

Get Involved

If you are interested in getting updates on the progress of this group or participating in a working group, please fill out this brief form.

Who We Are

This project is led by