INSIGHTS ON WWW-BASED GEOSCIENCE TEACHING - CLIMBING THE FIRST YEAR LEARNING CLIFF

In early 1995, The University of British Columbia Department of Geolog ical Sciences (now Earth and Ocean Sciences) initiated a project that explored the effectiveness of the World Wide Web as a teaching and lea rning medium. Four decisions made at the onset of the project have gui ded the department's educational technology plan: (1) over 90% of fund ing recieved from educational technology grants was committed towards personnel; (2) materials developed are modular in design; (3) a databa se approach was taken to resource development; and (4) a strong commit ment to student involvement in courseware development. The project com prised development of a web site for an existing core course: Geology 202, Introduction to Petrology. The web site (http:iiwww.science.ubc.c a/geo1202/) is a gateway to course information, content, resources, ex ercises, and several searchable databases (images, petrologic definiti ons, and minerals in thin section). Material was developed on either a n IBM or UNIX machine, ported to a UNIX platform, and is accessed usin g the Netscape browser. The resources consist primarily of HTML files or CGI scripts with associated text, images, sound, digital movies, an d animations. Students access the web site from the departmental stude nt computer facility, from home or a computer station in the petrology laboratory. Results of a survey of the Geol 202 students indicate tha t they found the majority of the resources useful, and the site is bei ng expanded. The Geology 202 project had a ''trickle-up'' effect throu ghout the department: prior to this project, there was minimal use of Internet resources in lower-level geology courses. By the end of the 1 996-1997 academic year, we anticipate that at least 17 Earth and Ocean Science courses will have a WWW site for one or all of the following uses: (1) presenting basic information; (2) accessing lecture images; (3) providing a jumping-off point for exploring related WWW sites; (4) conducting on-line exercises; and/or (5) providing a communications f orum for students and faculty via a Hypernews group. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.