Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using Interactive Virtual Field Guides and Linked Data in Geoscience Teaching and Learning

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geoscience Research and Education

Part of the book series: Innovations in Science Education and Technology ((ISET,volume 20))

Abstract

This chapter draws on experiences of designing, developing, using and evaluating web-based Virtual Field Guides (VFGs) for teaching geosciences. The chapter briefly reviews the previous use of VFGs to support students’ learning by fieldwork, highlighting some benefits. VFGs are considered to supplement real fieldwork, but not to become a substitute for it. We then outline the design considerations, development and staff and student evaluation of two VFGs: (1) the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail in Yorkshire developed for Foundation degree students and (2) the Virtual Alps VFG developed for level 2/3 undergraduates. The design and development of these VFGs was undertaken using different approaches, and the advantages and disadvantages of these different approaches are discussed. The Ingleton Waterfalls VFG was developed by a team comprising two academics, one technician and two web developers. Based on the experiences of developing the Ingleton Waterfalls VFG, the Virtual Alps VFG, on the other hand, was developed by two academics, with limited support/input from web developers.

The technological background against which VFGs are used has changed from the 1990s ‘Web 1.0’ standards to embrace the interactive ‘Web 2.0’ innovations, ‘open data’ initiatives and interest in how ‘user-generated content’ can be used to complement and extend existing databases and online collections. These developments have changed not only the practice of geoscientists in general; they also offer new possibilities for VFGs and the role they play in teaching and learning. The chapter reviews some of these developments, in particular, the emergence of a ‘linked web of data’ for the geosciences, and concludes with a description and discussion of a pilot VFG which employs ‘linked data’ and ‘semantic web’ approaches to allow students to access diverse web-based resources, to explore the relations between them and to then draw on these in the course of more authentic assessment activities than has hitherto been the case.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the development of VFGs and their associated technologies might produce a shift in their use from being visual representation tools towards their use to develop skills necessary in practice, thus assimilating online tools into an expanding and evolving set of discourses and practices, rather than replacing or causing the loss of traditional disciplinary skills.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

EPSRC:

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

ESRC:

Economic and Social Research Council

FTP:

File transfer protocol

GEON:

Geosciences Ontology

GOSIC:

Global Observing Systems Information Center

HEP:

Hydroelectric Power

LJMU:

Liverpool John Moores University

NASA:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SEM:

Scanning Electron Microscope

USGS:

United States Geological Survey

VFG:

Virtual Field Guide

WHO:

World Health Organization

References

  • Alani, H., Dupplaw, D., Sheridan, J., O’Hara, K., Darlington, J., Shadbolt, N., & Tullo, C. (2007). Unlocking the potential of public sector information with semantic web technology. In The semantic web (pp. 708–721). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, J., Kneale, P., Sougnez, Y., Stewart, M., & Stott, T. A. (2003). Carrying out Pedagogic research into the Constructive Alignment of Fieldwork. Planet Special Edition 5: Linking teaching and research and undertaking Pedagogic Research in Geography. Earth and Environmental Sciences, 51–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auer, S., Bizer, C., Lehmann, J., Kobilarov, G., Cyganiak, R., & Ives, Z. (2007). DBpedia: A nucleus for a Web of open data. Proceedings from The Semantic Web, 6th International Semantic Web Conference, 2nd Asian Semantic Web Conference, ISWC 2007 + ASWC 2007, Busan, Korea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., & Lassila, O. (2001). The semantic web. Scientific American, 284(5), 34–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bizer, C., Heath, T., & Berners-Lee, T. (2009). Linked data – The story so far. International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems, 5(3), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, L., Difranzo, D., Graves, A., Michaelis, J., Li, X., McGuinness, D., & Hendler, J. (2010). Data-gov wiki: Towards linking government data in 2010 AAAI spring symposium series. Online at: http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/SSS/SSS10/paper/view/1154

  • Dykes, J. (2000). An approach to virtual environments for visualization using linked geo-referenced panoramic imagery. Computers, Environments and Urban Systems, 24(2), 127–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, S., France, D., Moore, K., & Robinson, G. (2002). Fieldwork education and technology: A GEES perspective. Planet, 4, 17–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, S., France, D., Moore, K., & Robinson, G. (2007). Putting technology into fieldwork education: A pedagogic evaluation. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 31(2), 319–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, T., Domingue, J., & Shabajee, P. (2006). Interaction and uptake challenges to successfully deploying semantic web technologies. Proceedings from Semantic Web User Interaction Workshop, International Semantic Web Conference 06, Athens, GA, November 2006, Athens, GA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huynh, D., Karger, D., & Miller, R. (2007). Exhibit: Lightweight structured data publishing. Proceedings from WWW ‘07: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on World Wide Web, Banff, Alberta/New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koper, R. (2004). Use of the semantic web to solve some basic problems in education: Increase flexible, distributed lifelong learning, decrease teacher’s workload. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 6. http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/6

  • Laxton, J., Serrano, J., & Tellez-Arenas, A. (2010). Geological applications using geospatial standards: An example from OneGeology-Europe and GeoSciML. International Journal of Digital Earth, 3(S1), 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litherland, K., & Stott, T. A. (2012). Virtual field sites: Losses and gains in authenticity with semantic technologies. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 21(2), 213–230. doi:10.1080/1475939X.2012.697773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lytras, M., & Naeve, A. (2006). Semantic e-learning: Synthesising fantasies. British Journal of Educational Technology, 37(3), 479–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maskall, J., Stokes, A., Truscott, J. B., Bridge, A., Magnier, K., & Calderbank, V. (2007). Supporting fieldwork using information technology. Planet, 18, 18–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mika, P. (2005). Flink: Semantic web technology for the extraction and analysis of social networks. Journal of Web Semantics, 3(2), 211–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mika, P. (2007). Social networks and the semantic web. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mount, N. J., & Stott, T. A. (2008). A discrete Bayesian network to investigate suspended sediment concentrations in an Alpine proglacial zone. Hydrological Processes, 22(18), 3772–3784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, A. N. (1966). Questionnaire design and attitude measurement. London: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Brighton: Harvester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribes, D., & Bowker, G. (2008). Organizing for multidisciplinary collaboration: The case of GEON. In G. M. Olson, J. S. Olson, & A. Zimmerman (Eds.), Science on the Internet. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, D., Yu, H., Zeller, W., & Felten, H. (2009). Government data and the Invisible Hand. Yale Journal of Law and Technology, 11, 160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozell, E., & Garner, W. (2000). Cognitive, motivation and affective processes associated with computer-related performance: A path analysis. Computers in Human Behaviour, 16(2), 199–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shadbolt, N., Berners-Lee, T., & Hall, W. (2006). The semantic web revisited. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 21(3), 96–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spicer, J., & Stratford, J. (2001). Student perceptions of a virtual field trip to replace a real field trip. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 17, 345–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stott, T. A. (2007). Evaluation of low-cost personal digital assistants for field data collection and fieldwork leadership by students and staff. Planet, 18, 12–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stott, T. A., & Mount, N. J. (2007). Alpine proglacial suspended sediment dynamics in warm and cool ablation seasons: Implications for global warming? Journal of Hydrology, 332(3–4), 259–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stott, T. A., Nuttall, A., Eden, N., Smith, K., & Maxwell, D. (2008). Suspended sediment dynamics in the Morteratsch proglacial zone, Bernina Alps, Switzerland. Geografiska Annaler Series A: Physical Geography, 90(4), 299–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stott, T. A., Clark, H., Milson, C., McCloskey, J., & Crompton, K. (2009a). The ingleton waterfalls virtual field trip: Design, development and preliminary evaluation. Teaching Earth Sciences, 34(1), 13–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stott, T. A., Nuttall, A. M., & McCloskey, J. (2009b). Design, development and student evaluation of a virtual alps field guide www.virtualalps.co.uk. Planet, 22, 64–71.

  • Stutt, A., & Motta, E. (2004). Semantic learning webs. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 10, 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Tim Stott, Kate Litherland & Patrick Carmichael

  2. Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Anne-Marie Nuttall

Authors
  1. Tim Stott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kate Litherland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Patrick Carmichael
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anne-Marie Nuttall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tim Stott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Vincent C. H. Tong

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Stott, T., Litherland, K., Carmichael, P., Nuttall, AM. (2014). Using Interactive Virtual Field Guides and Linked Data in Geoscience Teaching and Learning. In: Tong, V. (eds) Geoscience Research and Education. Innovations in Science Education and Technology, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6946-5_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation