Experiential Learning in the Environmental & Natural Sciences: Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (EL CETL)

OverviewVirtual learning environments are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and dome technology in the form of ‘immersive cinema’ is one of the most rapidly expanding and exciting areas. EL CETL based at the University of Plymouth, UK has funded the redevelopment of the university's old planetarium into an Immersive Vision Theatre (IVT) for use in teaching, outreach, and pedagogic research.

The IVT is an 8m dome with fixed tiered seating for 40 people. Although originally envisaged as a tool to help preparation for fieldwork, the theatre is finding applications in visualising complex data sets (including the University's eco-footprint) and invisible processes, the visual and sonic arts, medicine, neuroscience, and the understanding of environments that act on scales in time and space that cannot be observed directly.

The location of the IVT courtesy of Google Earth.

Research on LearningOne of the reasons why fieldwork is believed to be so effective is that it involves ‘direct experience’ (i.e. physical interaction) which triggers an affective response. The dome provides an ‘indirect experience’ in the sense that there is no, or limited, physical interaction, yet it still appears capable of generating a very strong affective response. So how does the nature of a learning experience within an immersive environment compare to that of a physical environment?

From http://www.elumenati.com

DataTechniques have been developed to acquire images and audio of field sites.

In addition, the EL CETL is working with SCISS AB to utilise the Uniview software that combines representations from different, live datasets as well as other 3D animations. The software includes Digital Universe, the world's most extensive and accurate 3D atlas of the universe. The interactive database combines the latest astronomical data provided by scientists from around the globe. http://www.scalingtheuniverse.com/

The Milky Way - our home galaxy. Digital Universe (AMNH)

TechnologyThe equipment includes an innovative combination of projectors and a full spatial audio system. The system has been put together by Global Immersion: http://www.globalimmersion.com/ and Elumenati: http://www.elumenati.com/

The CETL is working with a number of departments in the University to develop content for the IVT , for example:Biological Sciences: Models of insects and human heart. Used for visualisation and movies. Computational Neuroscience: Visualisation of the activity of the input units of a neural network modelling a fly's perceptionComputer Music Research: Various sonic art projectsDigital Art and Technology: Visualisation of resource usage on campusDigital Art and Technology: Capturing data from biofeedback sensors fitted to each seat for artistic and scientific visualisations. Digital Art and Technology: Generative sonic art piece based on planet movementsEngineering: Visualisation from research and undergraduate output from coastal engineering departmentGeography: Live, bi-directional video from rainforest in Borneo.

Geography, Envl. Sciences: Visualisation of GIS datasets from Western Ireland and Tamar ValleyGeology : Assets from USA research and field tripsMedical School: Realisation of 3D modelsNeuroscience: Visualisation of the human brain. Oceanography: Library of imagery of local weather systemsStructural Engineering: Visualisation to explore clustering results in genetic algorithms

Ideas for Geoscience ApplicationsDemonstrations of the immersive experience were run at the Denver Museum of Natural Sciences during the 2007 Fall GSA meeting . Here are some of the ideas the participants came up for geoscience applications: •Ocean floor topography•Going through a geological map to the subsurface (make map translucent)•Convection models / hidden Earth•Temporal changes e.g. glacial advances / retreats•Plate tectonic models•Weather – development of storms•Zoom in and out from microscopic to universal scales•Journey to the centre of the Earth incorporating 3D seismic data•Fieldwork preparation –show them how rock units connect•Folding / tilting / erosion models to illustrate landscape evolution•Add real time fires / winds (download up-to-date satellite imagery)•Select a plane anywhere on the globe and see a cross-section all the way through•Illustrate e.g. sea level rise dynamically•Help students to visualise the geology extending below the surface•Journey through an orogenic belt•Visualising 2D to 3D transitions e.g. stereo nets

Experiential Learning in the Environmental & Natural Sciences: Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (EL CETL)

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/cetl/elPresented by Helen King, Higher Education Consultant, on behalf of the EL CETLhelen@helenkingconsultancy.co.uk

Development of the IVT and engagement with immersive technology has enabled the Experiential Learning CETL to become part of a global dome community, and in March 2008 the CETL will host the 3rd European Workshop and Conference in Immersive Cinema: http://elcetl.org/conference/

A 130 yr old geological visualisation. Ramsay, 1878.