Introducing Teachers and University Students to GPS Technology and its Importance in Remote Sensing Through GPS Treasure Hunts

Abstract

It is standard practice in satellite remote sensing of earth objects to field check imagery by locating specific places or objects using GPS (Global Positioning Systems). After teaching remote sensing courses for three years, and introducing GPS in them, it became clear that many of my students did not learn GPS technology well enough to successfully ground check satellite data and therefore a more effective way of teaching GPS was needed. Inspired by the common hobby of geocaching, I created a new fun and engaging activity for my university courses and teacher courses: the GPS treasure hunt. Two variations of the hunt have been undertaken with 297 teachers and students over four years. The results and impact of this activity have been overwhelmingly positive. Specific GPS-oriented questionnaires administered in several of the courses indicates that 34% of respondents had never used GPS units until completing the activity. After completing the hunt, 89% proclaimed that they felt comfortable using GPS units and would be able to find the location of any given object after the activity. Since introducing this activity, no student has required additional assistance in subsequent exercises that require the use of GPS units.