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Bringing the Field to Students during

COVID-19 and Beyond

Leilani A. Arthurs, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, 2200 Colorado Ave., Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

BACKGROUND my students. Students were reminded that A 100-m measuring tape was laid along
Undergraduate field-based experiences are this field course was being taught remotely many traverses, and a photo was first taken
valued components of geoscience education due to the university’s COVID-19 policy for of the measuring tape and then of a yellow
(Hendrix, 1967; Petcovic et al., 2014). summer courses. We also discussed the fact plastic number tent to aid students in devel-
However, the belief that it is “impossible to that geologic fieldwork is often conducted oping a sense of distance and scale. After
simulate [field] situations … to make … struc- remotely today using a variety of visual data. watching the GoPro videos and exploring the
tural, stratigraphic, geomorphologic, litho- Thus, they would have opportunities to 3D virtual reality panos, students then viewed
logic, etc. observations in solving a single develop essential skills applicable to both on- standard high-resolution 2D photos taken
problem” (p. 161, Hendrix and Suttner, 1978) the-ground fieldwork and remote fieldwork. with the SLR camera. These photos con-
means widespread efforts to make field expe- Three cameras captured visual data to tained yellow number tents with printed
riences more accessible to students are miss- bring the field to the students for all field ruler gradations at their base and rulers or
ing, which results in a culture of exclusion. assignments in this course: standard GoPro other objects for scale to aid students in mak-
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing educa- camera, Insta360 Pro camera, and digital ing and describing observations. Field assign-
tors to re-think how to design field courses. SLR camera. The GoPro captured continu- ments were posted in Canvas for students to
This article describes first-hand experiences ous wide-angle videos along each traverse, download. Students accessed all visual data
tackling the “impossible” to support students which students viewed first to do a general from a Google Drive folder and downloaded
graduating on time and provide an instruc- reconnaissance. The Insta360 Pro camera the 360° panos to their personal computers to
tional design model for post-pandemic field captured high-resolution 360° panoramic view with the PTGui software. Students
education that is more physically accessible digital images (referred to as “panos” here- used the CamScanner phone app to scan
than traditional models of field instruction. after), which students viewed second using their completed field notes for each assign-
free PTGui software that converted panos ment and uploaded them to Canvas for
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN GOALS into 3D virtual-reality settings in which stu- instructor review and grading.
Scheduled to teach the “Introduction to dents could turn around and look up and
Field Geology” course for the first time dur- down in any direction, zoom in and out of LEARNING GOALS
ing the COVID-19 pandemic, I was given the any field of view they chose, and indepen- In designing this course with the inten-
choice to cancel or teach remotely. I chose the dently explore the environment. The panos tions to (1) immediately teach it remotely and
latter. My first instructional design goal for were taken at locations along each traverse (2) teach it in person in the future, I initially
this remote version of the course was for it to, where rock exposures were least obscured articulated six course-level learning goals.
as much as possible, be the same as the in- by vegetation. Each field assignment had By the end of the course, students should be
person version I would teach in the future. six to seven pano sites, but only three were able to: (1) work independently and work col-
From this first design goal emerged three oth- plotted on the provided contour map with laboratively while pulling their own weight;
ers. Students should be able to remotely (1) each assignment. The plotted locations (2) know the meaning of pertinent field geol-
explore the field environment independently served as anchor sites for orientation pur- ogy terms and facts; (3) observe features and
and not be strictly prescribed where to stop, poses. To practice self-location, students processes in the environment and describe
what to look at, and what questions to ask and plotted the remaining pano sites. North- observations in individual field notes and
answer; (2) work with digital renditions of real pointing plastic markers were laid around oral presentations; (4) make sense of “the
geologic environments, not animated or the base of the Insta360 Pro camera during field” through reasoned thinking of observa-
contrived environments; and (3) visit local the capture of each pano, and students were tions; (5) know the differences between
field sites. In short, my motivating design goal instructed to use them as substitutes for inference, interpretation, and hypothesis as
was to bring the field to the students because I using a compass in the field to find north. well as develop and test them as appropriate;
could not bring them to the field. Additionally, panos had yellow plastic and (6) use a Brunton compass and Jacob’s
number tents at random locations so students staff. The sixth goal was a challenge for
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN METHODS could use these markers as common points remote instruction. Departmental deliber-
The primary focus of this article is the of reference while talking with each other ations about whether to insure and mail stu-
technologies used to bring local field sites to and me about their field observations (Fig. 1). dents field equipment determined students

GSA Today, v. 31, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG478GW.1. CC-BY-NC.

28 GSA Today | March-April 2021