Virtual Fieldtrips: construction, delivery, and implications for future geological fieldtrips

Abstract

Abstract. Virtual geological fieldtrips have become increasingly popular over the last decade, with the advent of remote piloted vehicles (RPVs; drones) leading to progressively sophisticated photorealistic virtual outcrops (VOs). As the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread international travel restrictions, virtual fieldtrips (VFTs) became practical, and necessary substitutes for traditional fieldtrips. This contribution explores two VFTs delivered to a master’s level Petroleum Geoscience course at the University of Aberdeen, normally run as traditional fieldtrips to the Spanish Pyrenees and Utah. The paper describes the delivery of these VFTs and examines student perception, gauged primarily through questionnaires. The VFTs were run in LIME, a software specifically designed for the interpretation of 3D models and the delivery of VFTs. Overall, the student questionnaires reflect the satisfaction of group with the teaching method and feedback was more positive for the virtual fieldtrips than the equivalent real-world trips in earlier years. Our findings also highlight several notable advantages associated with VFTs, including the ability to examine geology data at a range of scales, financial and access inclusivity, and reduced environmental impact. Several disadvantages with VFTs were also highlighted, including a reduction in social cohesion, and missing out on the experience of travelling and being outdoors. Our findings highlight implications for future application of VFTs and the opportunity to utilise both traditional fieldtrips and VFTs within a blended learning approach.

V3Geo: a cloud-based repository for virtual 3D models in geoscience

“…To facilitate high-quality contributions to V3Geo that successfully meet the technical requirements (and therefore a fast turnaround time), we have prepared guidelines for model preparation, published for the benefit of the geoscience community (Appendix A and in Howell et al, 2021). Although prepared with V3Geo in mind, they are equally applicable to more general 3D modelling and viewing software.…”

“…This allowed us to build more complex and interactive VFTs for the students. Pugsley et al (2021) provide a detailed overview of the VFT creation methodology and teaching methods as well as a review of the outcomes of running VFTs at the University of Aberdeen. This work is based on two VFTs run for MSc students -an 11 d trip to Utah and a 5 d trip to the Spanish Pyrenees.…”

“…These 3D models, acquired using photogrammetry (frequently referred to as structure from motion, SfM), laser scanning (lidar) or other optical 3D modelling methods, offer high-resolution and accurate representations of real-world topography, hand samples, and fossils for a range of quantitative and qualitative purposes (see e.g. Buckley et al, 2008a, Eltner et al, 2016, and Howell et al, 2021, for overviews of acquisition and processing considerations). Examples are detailed interpretations and measurements of statistically significant geometric data for analysing different geological settings (e.g.…”

The effect of Panoramic Virtual Reality (PVR) on learning flow in online earth science education

“…It contributes significantly to understanding spatial concepts through the provision of a sense of presence in the learning sites (Fitzsimons and Farren, 2016;Zhao et al, 2022). Additionally, it can give the positive opportunities of geological understanding, interpretation, and application through the observation of virtual outcrops (Pugsley et al, 2021).…”