Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project had two main goals: (1) to develop the ability of our students to use geospatial information to understand how and why soils and landscapes vary spatially at scales ranging from individual fields to a region as large as the state of Indiana, and (2) to develop our students' understanding as to how the spatial distribution of soils and landscapes impacts the distributions of crops, cropping systems, land use, and environmental and natural resource issues across the state of Indiana. To achieve these goals, we first created the Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) web site (http://isee.purdue.edu/), and then used it as a tool to teach soil spatial concepts in our crop, soil, and environmental sciences courses. We did this by developing worksheets and exercises that required students to use the Isee web site in their coursework. The very detailed maps we created for the Isee web site utilize all of the detailed soil survey data (SSURGO data) for the entire state of Indiana. The Isee web site represents a new way of making the vast amount of soil survey data accessible to students and the general public, and a new way of utilizing this data for teaching and learning. To disseminate the results of our work, we made oral and poster presentations at national and international meetings and the Indiana State Fair, we conducted programs utilizing the Isee web site for junior high and high school students and the general public, and distributed business cards advertizing the site. PARTICIPANTS: Agronomy Department: Darrell Schulze, Project director; Phillip Owens, data development; George Van Scoyoc, classroom integration; John Graveel, classroom integration; Lori Snyder, classroom integration and assessment. Purdue University Libraries: Chris Miller, data management; Marianne Bracke, assessment. Computer Graphics Technology: Laura Kocur, web site development; Ron Glotzbach, web site development. USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service: Rick Neilson, Mike Wiggington, and Travis Neeley, data review. TARGET AUDIENCES: Primary Audience: Students in university level crop, soil, and environmental science courses at Purdue University. Secondary Audiences: Earth science students at colleges and universities within Indiana. Vocational agriculture students and earth-space science students in Indiana high schools and junior high schools. The general public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Isee has been fully integrated into the following courses: Crop Production (AGRY 105) (213 students), Soil Science (AGRY 255/270/251, NRES 255) (705 students), Introduction to Environmental Science (NRES 290) (108 students), and Soils and Landscapes (AGRY 565) (40 students), where the number of students is the sum per course since Fall 2010. Thus, Isee has directly impacted 1,066 students in our classes from Fall 2010 through Fall 2012. These students learned important concepts about the spatial distribution of soils within landscapes that we were unable to teach effectively before we developed Isee. In a study to measure the effectiveness of teaching geographical concepts in an undergraduate crop production course, students were asked to create concept maps before and after an exercise that incorporated spatial concepts based on the Isee web site. Using a quantitative scoring method to evaluate the concept maps, we found a statistically significant increase in the scores for the post-concept maps versus the pre-concept maps, indicating a significant increase in knowledge. We also used the Isee web site for programs to service clubs and other groups in our local community and for programs for junior high and high school students when they visited campus. The web site receives about 200 unique visitors per month throughout the year, and up to 500 or more when classes are in session. The web site is housed on a server in the Purdue Libraries and will remain accessible into the future.
Publications
- Schulze, D. G., P. R. Owens and G. E. Van Scoyoc. 2012. Learning about soil resources with digital soil maps. p. 33-1 - 33-7 in: P. M. Huang, Y. Li, and M. E. Sumner, (eds.), Handbook of Soil Science - Resource Management and Environmental Impacts, 2nd ed., CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton.
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) web site was completed and "launched" at the end of April, 2011. All maps were finalized, all explanatory text was prepared and uploaded, and the data and code were moved to a server administered by the Purdue University Libraries. The Isee web site is available at http://isee.purdue.edu/. In addition to using Isee in our classes, we have demonstrated Isee to various student and professional groups as they visited the Agronomy Department during the year. We made at least 4 presentations about Indiana soils and landscapes that relied on Isee to various community groups. A poster describing Isee was displayed for 2 weeks at the Indiana State Fair in August, and cards inviting people to "Explore Indiana Soils and Landscapes Online!" were distributed. PARTICIPANTS: Agronomy Department: Darrell Schulze, Project director; Phillip Owens, data development; George Van Scoyoc, classroom integration; John Graveel, classroom integration; Lori Snyder, classroom integration and assessment. Purdue University Libraries: Chris Miller, data management; Marianne Bracke, assessment. Computer Graphics Technology: Laura Kocur, web site development; Ron Glotzbach, web site development. USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service: Rick Neilson, Mike Wiggington, and Travis Neeley, data review. TARGET AUDIENCES: Primary Audience: Students in university level crop, soil, and environmental science courses at Purdue University. Secondary Audiences: Earth science students at colleges and universities within Indiana. Vocational agriculture students and earth-space science students in Indiana high schools. The general public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: None
Impacts
Isee has been fully integrated into our Introductory Crops course (AGRY 105) and our Introductory Soils course (AGRY 255/270/251; NRES 255). During the 2010 - 2011 academic year, there were 75 students in the Introductory Crops course and 309 students in the Introductory Soils course. In addition, 9 students in our advanced Soils and Landscapes course (AGRY 565) used Isee intensively, both in the field on tablet PCs, and in the classroom via the Internet. Thus Isee directly impacted 393 students in our classes during the 2010/2011 academic year. These students learned important concepts about the spatial distribution of soils within landscapes that we were unable to teach effectively before we developed Isee. In a pilot study to measure the effectiveness of teaching geographical concepts in an undergraduate crop production course, students were asked to create concept maps before and after an exercise that incorporated spatial concepts based on the Isee web site. Using a quantitative scoring method to evaluate the concept maps, we found a statistically significant increase in the scores for the post-concept maps versus the pre-concept maps, indicating a significant increase in knowledge. Additional assessment activities continue during the final year of the project.
Publications
- Mitzman, S., L. U. Snyder, D. G. Schulze, P. R. Owens, and M. S. Bracke. 2011. The Pilot Study of Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) in an Undergraduate Crop Production Course. J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ. 40:91-101. doi:10.4195/jnrlse.2010.0029u
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
Progress this year focused on both Tasks 1 and 2, with more emphasis on Task 2 than the previous year. Task 1. Developing the Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) web application. We continued to develop the Isee web application. We developed additional data layers which included: (1) S. D. King's 1852 map of Indiana, which shows in detail the location of large areas of wetlands in northwestern Indiana that were drained in the early 1900s, (2) land cover in 2001 obtained from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) website (http://www.mrlc.gov/), (3) bedrock geology from the Indiana Geologic Survey, and (4) Fragipans and Ultic Soil Properties from the SSURGO soils database. We also purchased and installed a disk array to store the Isee data on our server, and we moved the Isee application to a new server. The formal release of the Isee web site continues to be delayed, and we now anticipate a formal release in early 2011. A prototype site, however, has been available at http://isee.purdue.edu/, and it has been used to incorporate Isee into our teaching program. Task 2 - Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences into our Curricula. Classroom activities based on the Isee web site were incorporated into our curricula during the 2009-2010 academic year, beginning with the Introductory Crop Science course during the fall and spring semesters (72 students) and the Introductory Soil Science course during the spring semester (136 students). We also used Isee in our Soil Classification, Genesis and Survey course (10 students), where students used the Isee data layers on tablet PCs in the field, and for two laboratory exercises that required using Isee on the Internet. We continued to assess the effectiveness of Isee for student learning. A manuscript describing our initial assessment activities was prepared and submitted for publication. PRODUCTS: The products of this project include the Isee web site at http://isee.purdue.edu/, and classroom exercises and activities based on the Isee web site. OUTCOMES: Our students are gaining a much better understanding of the spatial aspects of soils, and we are able to teach considerably more complex spatial concepts than before. We are quantifying these outcomes with our assessment activities. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: We gave presentations on the Isee project at numerous national and international meetings as documented by the published abstracts listed under Publications. We also gave programs using Isee to: (1) a group of 36 minority high school students, (2) a group of 30 high school students in an environmental science class, and (3) to a group of 20 high school science teachers. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Our immediate goal is to complete the Isee web site as soon as possible. We are also planning to move Isee to a mobile platform like the iPad.
Impacts
Our students are gaining a much better understanding of the spatial complexity of soils and how this impacts the use and management of soil resources.
Publications
- Mitzman, S., D. G. Schulze, P. R. Owens, R. Neilson, and M. Wigginton. 2009. Interpretive maps of soil properties for Indiana derived from SSURGO data. Abstracts. 2009 Integrating spatial educational experiences (Isee) into crop, soil, and environmental science curricula. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2009 International Annual Meeting, November 1-5, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA. Available online at http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Paper55663.html.
- Mitzman, S., D. G. Schulze, P. R. Owens, R. Neilson, and M. Wigginton. 2009. A dominant soil parent material map for Indiana derived from SSURGO data. Abstracts. 2009 Integrating spatial educational experiences (Isee) into crop, soil, and environmental science curricula. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2009 International Annual Meeting, November 1-5, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA. Available online at http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Paper55611.html.
- Mitzman, S., D. G. Schulze, P. R. Owens, L. Unruh Snyder. 2009. Assessing the effectiveness of mobile GIS on students' ability to identify landforms and predict soil properties in the field. Abstracts. 2009 Integrating spatial educational experiences (Isee) into crop, soil, and environmental science curricula. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2009 International Annual Meeting, November 1-5, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA. Available online at http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Paper55644.html.
- Schulze, D. G. 2010. Visualizing Indiana Soil Landscapes. Abstracts. 31st Annual Indiana Water Resources Association Conference, May 26-8, 2010, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
- Schulze, D. G., P. R. Owens, S. Mitzman, L. Unruh Snyder, G. E. Van Scoyoc, J. G. Graveel, C. C. Miller, M. Stowell Bracke, R. J. Glotzbach, L. A. Kocur, B. Benes, T. Neely, M. Wiggington, and R. Nielson. 2010. Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) into Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Curricula. Abstracts - 2010 NACTA/SERD Conference, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. Abstract No. 315.
- Schulze, D. G., P. R. Owens, S. Mitzman, L. Unruh Snyder, G. E. Van Scoyoc, J. G. Graveel, G. C. Steinhardt, C. C. Miller, M. Stowell Bracke, R. J. Glotzbach, L. A. Kocur, B. Benes, T. Neely, M. Wiggington, and R. Nielson. 2010. Isee - Integrating spatial educational experiences into soil, crop, and environmental sciences. Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Sciences, Brisbane, Australia, August 1-6, 2010. Available online at http://www.iuss.org/19th pct 20WCSS/symposium/pdf/1714.pdf .
- Schulze, D. G. and P. R. Owens. 2009. Visualizing soil landscapes. p. 11 in Program and Abstracts, Bridging the Centuries: 1909 - 2009 Budapest. Celebration of the legacy of agrogeology and the 100 years of advances in soil sciences - From the Dokuchaev School to numerical soil classifications. 18 September 2009, Godollo, Hungary.
- Schulze, D. G., S. Mitzman, P. R. Owens, L. Unruh Snyder, G. E. Van Scoyoc, J. G. Graveel, G. C. Steinhardt, C. C. Miller, M. Stowell Bracke, R. J. Glotzbach and B. Benes. Abstracts. 2009 Integrating spatial educational experiences (Isee) into crop, soil, and environmental science curricula. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2009 International Annual Meeting, November 1-5, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA. Available online at http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Paper55460.html .
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
This report is broken down according to the two main tasks of the project. Task 1. Developing the Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) web application. Much of the first year of the project has been occupied with developing the Isee web site. Subtask 1a : Assemble and document the various GIS datasets needed. In January 2009 we completed the assembly of a 5 x 5 meter pixel resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the whole state of Indiana using data downloaded from the Indiana Geospatial Data Portal (http://gis.iu.edu). This DEM is the base map for most of our other map layers. We also downloaded various additional statewide data sets, primarily from the Indiana Map web site (http://inmap.indiana.edu). Subtask 1b: Develop additional thematic maps. By the end of March 2009, we had developed the first draft of a Dominant Soil Parent Material map for Indiana based on the detailed soil survey data (SSURGO) downloaded from the NRCS Soil Data Mart (http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/). From March through August we created initial drafts of a number of additional thematic maps including, natural soil drainage class, presettlement vegetation, soil order, loess depth, and others. In May, we met with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil scientists to discuss how to work together to review and revise the various maps. Work on these maps continued through the summer. Subtask 1c: Create an engaging, web-based interface that will display the appropriate GIS datasets to the users. Preliminary work on the web interface began in September, 2008 with tests of various approaches to formatting and delivering the data. The PI attended a conference on the Scientific Applications of Google Earth in October, 2008. A project blog was initiated in December, 2008 to facilitate communication between the project partners. In February, 2009 we decided to use the Google Earth API as the platform for our web application and work began on learning how to program for this application. The programming group met regularly during the spring and summer and a prototype web site became functional in July. Progress on the web site has been steady since then. The current draft of the web site is available at http://gis.lib.purdue.edu/isee/ . Task 2 - Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences into our Curricula. An assessment instrument for the project was created and tested during the spring of 2009 and approved by Purdue's Institutional Review Board. This assessment instrument was used for the first time in an Introductory Crop Science course in the spring of 2009. We are slightly behind our original timeline of having the Isee web site completed by the end of July, 2009, primarily due to the complexity of the project. Nevertheless, we are making steady progress and anticipate having the Isee web site ready for a public launch in the spring of 2009. Even so, the site is already stable enough that it can be used in the classroom during the fall semester of 2009 and we anticipate that we will be preparing class exercises and testing the use of the site in our courses at that time. PRODUCTS: There are two major products from the first year of this project. 1. A statewide dataset consisting of a 5 m digital elevation model and draft thematic maps including, dominant soil parent materials, natural soil drainage class, presettlement vegetation, soil order, loess depth, fragipan distribution and other maps designed to teach soil and crop science. 2. The initial versions of the Isee web site that will be the mechanism for making the digital maps accessible to our students and the general public. OUTCOMES: We are creating a new approach for visualizing the soil landscape for Indiana which will significantly impact how we teach students about the soil and agricultural resources of Indiana. The first year of the project has been a development year, but the various thematic maps we have created so far are reshaping our understanding of Indiana landscapes, and that new understanding is already being incorporated into our classroom teaching. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: We participated in a workshop for 30 high school vocational agriculture teachers during the summer of 2008 where we did a hands-on program using the soil data layers that we had developed at the time. Feedback from the vo ag teachers was very positive and they are looking forward to using the Isee web site in their teaching program when it becomes publically available. FUTURE INITIATIVES: During the next year of the project we will finalize the draft thematic maps that we developed during the first year. We also plan to develop additional maps to include in our dataset. We will finalize the first version of the Isee web site, with a launch anticipated for the spring of 2010. Initial incorporation of the Isee web site into our soil, crop, and environmental science courses will begin during the fall semester of 2009, and will continue and intensify during the spring semester of 2010. We will also publicize our project by making presentations to groups in Indiana, as well as at national and international meetings.
Impacts
Since the first year of the project has been a development year, the impacts have been confined largely to those of us working on the project. Nevertheless, as stated above under Outcomes, the new understanding we have of Indiana landscapes will have a significant impact on what and how we teach our students about soils, agriculture, and the natural environment of Indiana.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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