James S. Reichard

A COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR USE WITH PACE AND COMPASS EXERCISES

Although GPS technology has greatly improved in recent years it is still important to train students in traditional navigation skills with the Brunton compass. In addition to considerable pedagogic value inherent in such training, the compass can serve as a valuable backup to GPS. Within the geosciences the pace and compass traverse has been a common field technique for determining spatial coordinates of features in the field. However, students commonly find it difficult to separate graphical errors inherent in the technique from those associated with field measurements. The Pace program takes user-supplied azimuth and distance data and employs simple vector addition to determine the XY coordinates of successive stations in a traverse. This program provides a way for students to eliminate graphical errors, thereby allowing them to better gauge the true accuracy of their field data. Instructors can also use the program as a valuable means of helping students learn to differentiate between random and systematic errors in their field-data set. Ultimately, students should realize that multiple sources of error exist in most types of data and appreciate the importance of locating and minimizing such errors.

Switching from a Traditional to a Computer-Based Format for Introductory Geoscience Lectures

A common technique used in introductory geoscience courses is to display ones lecture notes with an overhead projector, interspersed with color transparencies of textbook figures. The problem with this format is that publishers provide transparencies for only a fraction of the textbook figures. Furthermore, each time lecture notes are updated, a new set of transparencies must be made of the lecture outline. By switching to a computer-based format, instructors can insert any textbook figure into the outline, and these materials can easily be updated. The equipment needed for this method is a computer, a scanner, and a liquid-crystal display (LCD) projector. Depending upon their style, instructors can choose either presentation or word-processing software to embed scanned textbook figures within the lecture outline. Because many instructors are familiar with word-processing software, the selection of such software simplifies the process of switching to a computer-based format. Although the scanning of figu...

Teaching Stereo Viewing in the Classroom

I have developed a highly effective method of teaching stereo viewing based on simple exercises in the use and adjustment of the stereoscope and aerial photographs. The approach teaches students a procedure that avoids the often-frustrating experience of randomly moving the stereoscope and aerial photos until a stereo image is formed. Experience has shown that students should understand the fundamental principles of stereo vision and become proficient at making basic adjustments prior to viewing actual photographs. This is accomplished by having the students first practice with sets of dots drawn on plain paper to teach them two key adjustments. Using the dots and opening and closing one eye and then the other, the student is taught to a) correctly orient the stereoscope relative to the flight line and b) position the photos so that the distance between conjugate points always remains equal to the students interpupillary distance. Only after mastering these adjustments, should actual photographs be used....