CSDMS 2016 annual meeting poster WeiLuo
Earth surface modeling for education: is it effective? Two semesters of classroom tests with WILSIM-GC
Jon Pelletier, University of Arizona Arizona, United States.
Thomas Smith, Northern Illinois University DeKalb Illinois, United States.
Kyle Whalley, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Aaron Shelhamer, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Andrew Darling, Arizona State University Arizona, United States.
Carol Ormand, Carleton College Minnesota, United States.
Kirk Duffin, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Wei-Chen Hung, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Ellen Iverson, Carleton College Minnesota, United States.
David Shernoff, Rutgers University New Jersey, United States.
Xiaoming Zhai, College of Lake County Illinois, United States.
Jui-Ling Chiang, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Nicholas Lotter, Northern Illinois University Illinois, United States.
Abstract:
Earth's surface is the ever-changing, dynamic interface between lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere. Earth surface modeling can help researchers predict the movement of water and sediments and understand the processes that shape the landform we see today. Modeling can also be employed to help students understand the complicated surface processes and their interactions because it allows students to explore different scenarios and observe the associated outcomes. However, for modeling to be useful in teaching (especially at the undergraduate level), simplifications and adaptations are necessary. The Web-based Interactive Landform Simulation Model – Grand Canyon (WILSIM-GC, http://serc.carleton.edu/landform/) is a simplified version of a physically-based model that simulates bedrock channel erosion, cliff retreat, and base level change. It takes advantage of the recent developments in Java technology (e.g., Java OpenGL, Trusted Applet, and multithreaded capability) that allows for fast computation and dynamic visualization. Students can change the erodibility of the bed rock, contrast in erodibility between hard and soft rock layers, cliff retreat rate, and base level dropping rate. The impact and interaction of these changes on the landform evolution can be observed in animation from different viewing geometry. In addition, cross-sections and profiles at different time intervals can be displayed and saved for further quantitative analysis.
Our initial results of testing WILSIM-GC in classroom in the fall of 2014 showed promising results (Luo et al., 2016). Improvements have been made since then and here we report new results from fall of 2015 (semester 1) and spring of 2016 (semester 2). The same quasi-experimental design was followed: students were randomly assigned to a treatment group (using WILSIM-GC simulation) or a control group (using traditional paper-based material) to learn the land-forming processes in the Grand Canyon. Pre- and post-tests were administered to measure students’ understanding of the concepts and processes related to Grand Canyon formation and evolution. Results from the ANOVA showed that for both groups there were statistically significant growth in scores from pre-test to post-test [F(1, 47) = 25.82, p < .001], but the growth in scores between the two groups was not statistically significant [F(1, 47) = 0.08, p =.774]. In semester 1, the WILSIM-GC group showed greater growth, while in semester 2, the paper-based group showed greater growth. Additionally, a significant time × group × gender × semester interaction effect was observed [F(1, 47) = 4.76, p =.034]. Here, in semester 1 female students were more strongly advantaged by the WILSIM-GC intervention than male students, while in semester 2, female students were less strongly advantaged than male students (and, in fact, females in the WILSIM-GC condition showed a lower rate of growth than females in the paper-based condition).
The new results are consistent with our initial findings and others reported in the literature, i.e., simulation approach is at least equally effective as traditional paper-based method in teaching students about landform evolution. Survey data indicate that students prefer the simulation approach. Further study is needed to investigate the reasons for the difference by gender.
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