Geoscience Education: Web-Based Investigations for Geosciences (WIG)

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0085620MessinaWeb-based Investigations in the Geosciences (WIG) is a multidisciplinary, broad-audience endeavor, targeting undergraduate and graduate students, pre-college science teachers, and those in their charge. The core of this initiative involves the development, field-testing and implementation of inquiry-based GIS (Geographic Information Systems)/GPS (Global Positioning System) modules and "virtual geologic field trips" that will be widely distributed over the Internet. With the assistance of a graduate student intern, the Principal Investigator of the proposed project will gather and organize spatial data to construct critical thinking activities in which geologic, biologic, geographic, meteorologic, and other GIS layers are combined into Earth Systems puzzles. The modules will be in the form of interactive directed inquiry lessons and "virtual field trips" in which the end-user will explore a remote terrain in search of physical evidence to help solve a problem. The PI of this project will employ the assistance of current students within San Jose State University's College of Science, who will collect further spatial data as part of Geology course requirements. Current students will also field-test the modules before they are more widely distributed via several public and private Internet servers. Dissemination strategies also include pre-college and in-service teacher workshops, national conference participation, and journal articles on the project's resources. WIG will make available Web-based student-centered activities, archived data sets to conduct spatial investigations, and virtual field trips for use in colleges and secondary schools around the country, or internationally.