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"...we designed these on-line activities to collect data about student understanding of orientation, scale, and surface features of selected images." Task 1 to assess visualization skills Task 2, end-of-unit assessment Earth
and Space Science course
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Visualizing Earth from the Classroom
One component of the Visualizing Earth Project has been the development of a series of Web sites
which allow students to complete image interpretation (Dodson, Johnson, Levin & Souviney, 1998.) Working with Dr. Lynn Liben (PSU),
we designed these on-line activities to collect data about student understanding of orientation,
scale, and surface features of selected images. An undergraduate researcher at UCSD, Jeff Johnson,
wrote a script that creates these on-line image tasks. Space-based Earth images are presented
individually or in pairs. Using the on-line image tasks, student responses are automatically
collected in a database for later analysis.
Image Task #1 assesses
student visualization skills,
beginning with several close-up shuttle images of the San Diego area. Students are asked to identify the
places they recognize and also the general geographical features. They are also asked to identify
specific image features such islands, space, lakes, bays, and rivers. They are then shown a series
of images of the same region at different scales and orientations and asked to match features in
all the images. Students also perform mental rotations of images so that they match the orientation
of their paired image.
After working with images of San Diego, students perform similar tasks with
images of the Middle East. In order to elicit students' thinking in image interpretation, we
point students to an unnamed feature of a Middle East image (in this case, the Suez Canal),
and ask them to explain whether they think the feature is man-made or natural, and their
reasons. All students also complete Image
Task #2, a similar on-line exercise, as an end of unit assessment.
In order to examine the feasibility of the Image Task assessment, the activity was
first tested with 70 of Reynolds' students at the end of the year in which VisEarth
lessons were developed. Levin conducted a preliminary analysis of the data, and these
findings indicated that students were generally competent in identifying features
on images, especially when these images were of actual locations with which they
had personal familiarity. When asked to identify matching locations on two images
that differed in scale, students were also highly successful. Further modifications
of the Image Task were made to allow for the examination of the role that familiarity
of images plays in the ability to recognize similar features across images that differ
in scale.
Students were most challenged by tasks that asked them to compare images
which differed from one another in orientation. Very few students successfully
determined the direction of rotation of specific features on the images. We
modified Image Task #1 and developed Image Task #2 to assess changes in image
interpretation as a result of participation in VisEarth activities the following year.
In the implementation year, students in Reynolds' class completed a pre-test of 10
questions evaluating previous knowledge of basic geology information. Image Task #1
was given to each student, individually and on-line. The post-test consisted of 20
questions which included the 10 from the pre-test. At that time students also
completed Image Task #2. Average score growth was significant
for both content
knowledge (p < 0.0001; n = 107) and ability to interpret images (p < 0.0001; n = 100).
However, since there was no control group, net gain cannot be solely attributed
to the image-rich geology activities.
What are the implications of using an image-rich curriculum to enhance content knowledge
and visual processing skills? In general, middle school Earth science students rarely
have the opportunity to use visualizations to help them develop conceptual understanding.
Typical Earth science lessons may be limited to viewing rock collections, looking at
maps of plate boundaries, and perhaps watching a video of a volcanic eruption. Using
these limited visualization tools, students have difficulty making the connection
between geologic forces, the movement of continental plates, and the resulting features
on the Earth's surface.
Reynolds found the VisEarth activities to be effective in
assisting his students develop conceptual understanding of complex geological
processes. Viewing profiles of plate boundaries dynamically and
coordinating these displays with actual images of the Earth and other georeferenced
data made it easier for students to understand complex plate-tectonic interactions.
As a result of VisEarth activities, more students were able to make the critical
connection between current geologic formations and real-life plate-tectonic forces. Results of this study suggest that participation in the VisEarth activities, even for the
limited three-week period, enhanced student geology learning. We anticipate that more
extensive work with images, as an integral component of classroom lessons,
will result in enhanced student conceptual understanding of Earth science topics and improved
image interpretation skills. To examine this conjecture, Wilder-O'Neil is implementing
VisEarth activities in a year long grade nine Earth
and Space Science course. As a result of this implementation, we expect to learn
about the long-term achievement effects of extended and varied engagement with space-based images
on student knowledge and visualization skills.
Dodson, H. , Johnson, J., Levin, P. & Souviney, R. (1998). Visualizing Earth project. Computers & Geosciences, 24(5). http://www.uh.edu/~jbutler/anon/holly.html Gore, A. (1992). Earth in the balance: Ecology and the human spirit. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Hall, S. (1992). Mapping the next millennium: How computer-driven cartography is revolutionizing the face of science. New York: Vintage Books. Saferstein, B. (1991). Cultural processing of technology: Two cases of the strength of cognitive ties. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Saferstein, B. & Souviney, R. (1997). Secondary science teachers, the Internet, and curriculum development: A Community of explorers. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 26(2), 113-126. Souviney, R., Saferstein, B. & Chambers, E. (1995). InternNet: Network communication and teacher development. The Journal of Computing and Teacher Education, 11(4), 5-15. Way, J., Ride, S., & Stork, E. (1996). KidSAT quantative remote sensing for science and applications. (pp. 578-580.) in T. Stein (Ed.) International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 1. New York: IEEE.
EarthKAM images can be found at http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/
The authors wish to thank Daryl Stermon for his assistance with analyzing the statistical data for this project.
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