1. AN INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING STRATEGY FROM THE VISUAL GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION ENVIRONMENT (VGEE) AMS Annual Meeting 15 January 2002 Funded by the National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education

2. The VGEE Team Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign Dan Bramer, Mohan Ramamurthy and Robert Wilhelmson Digital Library for Earth Science Education Mary R. Marlino and Marianne Weingroff Visualization Group, Scientific Computing Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research Don Middleton and Tim Scheitlin Learning and Performance Support Laboratory, University of Georgia Dean Elliott and Ken Hay Department of Geology and Astronomy, West Chester University Katia Issa, Lakshmi Mallagaiahguri, John Yoder, and Rajul Pandya

3. The Goal of the VGEE “To use learner- constructed visualizations of geophysical phenomena as an anchor for fruitful student inquiry.”

4. Fruitful Inquiry… Processes Fundamental Principles Phenomena … connects all levels of the pyramid into a coherent understanding

5. The VGEE consists of …  Tools to help learners visualize complex, multi-dimensional geophysical phenomena  Tools to connect those visualizations to fundamental physical principles  A strategy for inquiry implemented in sample scenarios (ENSO)  An open design adaptable to phenomena across the geosciences

6. Visualization… Exploits natural talent of humans Removes mathematical skill as a barrier “Visual literacy” –visualization in media, policy decisions –visualization manipulation skills desirable in science, finance, creative arts Adapted from Edelson et al, 1999

7. Learner-Constructed Visualizations: The Advantages  Learners use authentic tools of science  Learners are more engaged  Constructed understanding is robust  Naturally supports Earth Systems approach  Technically possible

8.   Learners may misuse the tools of science   More difficult for learners   Constructed misunderstanding is also robust   Difficult for learner to focus on relevant details in a complex system   Java Learner-Constructed Visualizations The Disadvantages

9. Java Visualization Environment  Easily extensible vigorous development community (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html) open architecture  Platform independence  Integration with other VGEE components  Ready implementation of client-server architecture

10. Visualization Environment Prototype 1. Visualization Window 2. Interactive variable hierarchy 3. Probe Interface 4. Menu bar 5. Icon bar 6. Dialog box 7. Animation controls

11. Visualization / Inquiry Research Research Question “Are students able to find an ENSO related feature and explain it?” Research Methodology Interviewed 25 undergraduates Offered three levels of interventions

12. Visualization / Inquiry Research Interventions 1.Discovery Student is given the data set and asked to find and explain 2.Application Students are given a general description of a process and asked to see if it fits 3.Verification Student is given the data set and a complete description of the phenomena and simply asked to find it

13. Visualization / Inquiry Research Results “Students have trouble connecting the visualization to underlying physical principles”

14. An Adaptable Inquiry Strategy Identify Use the visualization environment to find potentially meaningful patterns in the data set Relate Look for relations between patterns to uncover processes Explain Use concept models (idealized, java-based experiments) to explain the relation between patterns with fundamental principles Integrate Use probes to investigate the role of fundamental principles within learner-created visualizations

15. VGEE Inquiry Identify Patterns Precipitable water during the normal phase ENSO Data from: NCAR MSS Archives: NCEP Reanalysis Atmospheric Data

16. Blue colors indicate large convective precipitation rate Data from http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/ VGEE Inquiry Relate Patterns Streamline indicates motion

17. Concept models are used to explore relations in an idealized context VGEE Inquiry Explain Patterns

18. VGEE Inquiry Integrate Patterns Learners integrate fundamental principles to explain the processes within the context of the phenomena

19. Summary  VGEE includes  visualization environment  tools to connect visualization to fundamental physics  an inquiry strategy  The VGEE architecture data set independent  Strategy and tools are applicable to a variety of geophysical phenomena

20. More Information http://www.dlese.org/vgee http://vgee.atmos.uiuc/edu  -curriculum Development Notes