Google Earth Geoscience Video Library (GEGVL): Organizing Geoscience Videos in a Google Earth Environment to Support Fieldwork Teaching Methodology in Earth Science

Abstract

Fieldwork teaching methodology (FTM) and active learning are effective strategies for geoscience education. However, traditional field trips require significant resources, time, physical abilities, and the expertise of teachers. In this study, we provide a supplementary virtual field trip experience by showing how different kinds of geoscience videos can be spatially organized into one digital interactive virtual environment. Here, we present the Google Earth Geoscience Video Library (GEGVL) which uses Google Earth and location-specific videos about Earth events, to create a virtual field-based learning experience. Using Google Earth, GEGVL organizes field-based videos by location and links pertinent non-field-based videos, and allows users to roam the globe in search of geoscientific videos that are pertinent to them or their students. Currently, GEGVL contains 150 videos organized into ten different geoscience disciplines: Plate Tectonics, Minerals, Structural Geology, Metamorphism, Magmatism, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Sedimentology, Paleontology, and Paleomagnetism. Despite stability challenges with Google Earth integration, results of user surveys among lower-division undergraduates show that the design logic of GEGVL is a promising virtual field-based learning organizer for increasing students’ interest in and helping them learn about Earth sciences.