Development of Software to Assist Teaching Petrography to Undergraduate Earth Science Students

地球科学本科学生面临的一个重要困难是学习如何在显微镜下识别岩石薄片中的矿物质。我们将开发计算机软件（PetroDisc）来帮助学生了解火成岩、变质岩和沉积岩薄片中的矿物和纹理。该应用程序将是一个交互式教程，从CD-ROM或激光磁盘绘制显微照片。同一薄片的多幅图像（平面和交叉偏振光，舞台旋转，反射光，干涉图，阴极发光等）将模拟岩石显微镜，并说明薄片中矿物的基本性质。图像上的每一颗矿物颗粒都将与一个包含矿物名称、光学、成分和x射线特性的数据库相关联。学生将能够以互动的方式探索一系列薄片，增强实验室讲师的有效性。该程序的扩展工作将提高他们识别矿物和操纵各种岩石学数据（包括x射线图，反向散射电子图像，模态丰度和晶体尺寸分布）的能力。PetroDisc将由一小组地质学家和一名指导程序员构建。该计划的早期版本将在实验室课堂上由其他岩石学家进行评估，并在发布之前制作一个原型供使用并在互联网上发表评论。杨百翰大学将以最低的成本将PetroDisc提供给高校的地球科学系。

An important difficulty faced by undergraduate Earth Science students is learning how to identify minerals in thin sections of rocks under a microscope. We will develop computer software (PetroDisc) to help students understand minerals and textures in thin sections of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The application will be an interactive tutorial that draws photomicrographs from a CD-ROM or laser disk. Multiple images (plane and cross polarized light, stage rotation, reflected light, interference figures, cathodoluminescence, etc.) of the same thin section will simulate a petrographic microscope and illustrate the fundamental properties of minerals in thin sections. Each mineral grain on the image will be keyed to a database of mineral names, optical, compositional, and x-ray properties. Students will be able to interactively explore a series of thin sections, amplifying a laboratory instructor's effectiveness. Extended work with this program should increase their ability to identify minerals and manipulate various kinds of petrographic data (including x-ray maps, back scattered electron images, modal abundances, and crystal size distributions). PetroDisc will be constructed by a small team of geologists and an instructional programmer. Early versions of the program will be evaluated in laboratory classes, by other petrologists, and by making a prototype available for use and comment on the Internet before it is released. PetroDisc will be supplied by BYU to Earth Science departments at colleges and universities for minimal cost.