Environmental Science

How can the student experience be enhanced when resources are tight?

Overview.

Objective:

Enhance the student experience without significantly increasing the resource burden on both students and the department.

Client:

Dr. William Landing, Professor of Oceanography, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University.

Summary:

Students apply scientific methodologies in the metaverse, exploring places they would not have the opportunity to visit as part of a traditional course.

Outcome:

Student satisfaction improved, and enrollment increased by 50% compared to the previous year.

Dr. William Landing hoped metaverse learning might be an effective way of teaching core Environmental Science concepts outside of traditional classes and lectures. He hoped that by taking his students on “virtual field trips,” he could enable them to apply what they had learned in his classes to real-world scenarios in an exciting and engaging way. These real-world scenarios would be impossible without significantly increasing the resource burden on both the students and the department.

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Process.

Working with Dr. William Landing, we devised and built a laboratory series consisting of eight modules taught within four metaverse worlds.

Students travel back in time to Easter Island with the mission of discovering what caused the collapse of the Rapa Nui culture. They monitor invasive species by SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and analyze the Earth’s climate change by drilling ice cores in the Antarctic. The last environment is closer to home: a suburban housing development in which students learn about the design, construction, and maintenance of sustainable buildings.

“As an educator, metaverse learning is fantastic. In the Environmental Science lab, we have them SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef — we could never do that — and I do it too! I’m in the environment with the students, and our TAs are in there, interacting too.”

— Dr. William M. Landing, Professor of Oceanography, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University

Available Modules.

  • Easter Island.

    Students travel to Easter Island during six periods in history from 900AD to 1800AD. They measure the changes in and the relationship between the island’s resources and its population, tracing the effect of the increasing population on the environment and its collapse once the island’s resources have been exhausted.

  • Invasive Species.

    On a small tropical island, students are introduced to invasive and non-native species. Diving underwater, they collect and record data on fish species, algae coverage, and coral coverage over different time periods. They are taught the various methodological approaches and techniques used to survey marine biodiversity (Line Transect, Quadrant Sampling, and S Transect).

  • Ice Core.

    Students join a scientific expedition in Antarctica where they drill for ice core samples in a snow-swept landscape before analyzing the samples in a field lab. They add the data they collected in the virtual environment to an existing ice core data file that goes back almost 800,000 years. They use the dataset to inform a discussion of how changing CO2 levels might affect the Earth’s climate.

  • Climate Change and Ocean Acidification.

    Returning to the tropical island, students conduct a survey on a coral reef. They learn about coral symbiosis, how atmospheric CO2 affects seawater pH levels, how calcium carbonate dissolves at low pH, and how to design a field experiment (including controls, experiments, and replicates). They also discover that every field experiment affects the environment on a small scale.

  • Nutrient Use on a Farm.

    After initial instruction in a large industrial barn, students visit wetlands capable of growing sugarcane. Students must determine the amount of fertilizer required to produce a healthy and commercially profitable sugarcane crop. They learn why fertilizers are used, gain an understanding of yields and nutrient use efficiency, and practice basic data analysis techniques.

  • Nutrient Effect on a Watershed.

    Students visit six virtual watersheds in various states of eutrophication and take dissolved oxygen readings and water samples for analysis and processing. Then they explore issues associated with eutrophication, learn how to relate fertilizer inputs to eutrophication effects, and estimate the cost of eutrophication to a farm.

  • Frogs and Atrazine.

    On a tropical island, students experiment on frog species using Atrazine. As well as practicing a variety of basic laboratory techniques, students are introduced to the issues surrounding environmental toxicology, and the dangers posed to vulnerable populations by human-made chemicals. They also learn about experimental and control treatments, and how to evaluate their results statistically.

  • Green Building.

    Within a suburban housing development, students detect and identify building features, fixtures, and fittings that can be made more energy efficient using a ‘green scanner’. This introduces the basic principles of sustainable building and its benefits. It also teaches students how to assess different building materials according to green criteria and enables them to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different building choices.

Results.

Outcome.

Dr. Landing reports that his students have taken very well to metaverse learning. He presents the course material in a far more engaging way without forfeiting the educational standards required of a core science class. The course is currently offered year-round and attracts approximately 750 new students annually.