OOS 46: Network Connections: Deepening and Expanding Access to Virtual Field Experiences

Session Organizer(s)

• Itchung Cheung

  Integrative Biology, Oregon State University
  Newport, Corvallis, OR, USA

Moderator(s)

• Itchung Cheung

  Integrative Biology, Oregon State University
  Newport, Corvallis, OR, USA

Volunteer(s)

• Jennifer Perez

Students and educators in the environmental sciences were hit hard by the closures of field sites necessitated by the COVID pandemic. The transition of education to an online platform left many educators without teaching resources and reduced student opportunities for developing skills in observation and identification, research and engagement with careers associated with field research, which for most are essential experiences for undergraduate majors, undergraduate internship programs, and graduate degrees. In response to this need a collaboration of field stations, marine laboratories and field researchers around the world began developing teaching tools to bring aspects of the missing field experiences into virtual classrooms. This session highlights a variety of approaches to develop and distribute virtual field learning resources to faculty, students and other stakeholders. Common threads across these projects are the recognition of the immense educational benefits of in-person field experiences and the potential for virtual learning experiences to remove geographic, physical or socioeconomic barriers to learning. Virtual tools have the potential to create field-trip like experiences for large classes, prevent student exclusion based on financial considerations, enhance preparedness for field trips, and broaden “first-hand” experiences in environments around the world. Projects also explore a variety of educational goals, such as teaching observational skills or introducing students to field researchers in a myriad of disciplines. Some projects are part of “The Virtual Field”, a new field station and marine laboratory coalition focused on developing, compiling and distributing cross-site virtual resources.

Presentations:

• ON DEMAND

  A walk in the woods: Creating virtual experiences that inspires cross-institutional engagement at Black Rock Forest
  

  Presenting Author: Angelica Patterson – Black Rock Forest Consortium
• ON DEMAND

  Evolving concepts in virtual field trips: New capabilities and democratizing VFT creation
  

  Presenting Author: Chris Mead – Center for Education Through Exploration and School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
• ON DEMAND

  Live from the field: Introducing students to field research through cross-site conversations
  

  Presenting Author: Kerry Wininger – Center For Environmental Inquiry, Sonoma State University

  Presenting Author: Hilary Swain – Archbold Biological Station
• ON DEMAND

  Start local, go global: Students build observation skills and link evidence to concepts using the Ecosystem Exploration Series
  

  Presenting Author: Patricia A. Saunders – Department of Biology & Environmental Science Program, Ashland University
• ON DEMAND

  The Virtual Field: How a pandemic expanded access to the field
  

  Presenting Author: Sarah Oktay – Natural Reserve System, UC Davis
• ON DEMAND

  Virtual field tripping around volcanoes...what works?
  

  Presenting Author: Ben Kennedy – School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury