Douglas F. Robertson

Computer Simulation of Incomplete-Data Interpretation Exercise.

A computer simulation was used to help general education students enrolled in a large lecture section of a first course in introductory geology gain experience in the interpretation of incomplete data. Teams of three students each designed a plan for the collection of bathymetric data in a 30 by 20 kilometer area of the ocean. The computer program provided up to 90 Km of bathymetric readings which student teams then combined to form a bathymetric map of the ocean floor. Conflicting interpretations put forth by different teams of students were then discussed in the class.

The Use of Computer-Based Mathematical Models in Determining the Shape of a Buried Valley.

An example of the use of computer-based mathematical modelling in an introductory course in physical geology is described. The shape of a buried valley is determined by constructing a model of the valley, computing the gravity anomaly which would result from a valley of the same shape as the model, and then comparing the calculated anomaly with the observed anomaly. The interaction between the students and the computer was accomplished through the use of computer cards which were filled out by the students in class and later fed into the computer via an optical card reader.