USING INTERNET BASED DATA VISUALIZATION TOOLS TO ACCESS AND INTERACT WITH AUTHENTIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATA
Richard Huber, Curricular Studies,
Abstract
Using Internet based
data visualization tools (DVT’s) is an excellent way to facilitate inquiry
instruction. This paper will introduce
the reader to several representative DVT’s from
Introduction
Although Internet-based
resources have already begun to revolutionize the ways in which we teach
science, some of the Internet’s most promising resources for facilitating
inquiry-based science instruction are just now beginning to be tapped. Specifically, new uses of Java applet based
technology are opening up vast databases of environmental science data. When coupled with educationally sound and
developmentally appropriate applet-based data visualization tools (DVT’s),
these databases provide a truly unprecedented gold mine of resources for
promoting inquiry-based instruction in the areas of Oceanography, Environmental
Studies and Earth Sciences. In response
to the need for educationally valid tools to access these online databases,
science educators at the University of Minnesota Duluth and University of North
Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) have developed data driven DVT’s for the Cape
Fear River in Southeast North Carolina (River
Run), near shore buoys off the coast of North Carolina (River View), NOAA buoy data from around
the world (Ocean View) and Northern
Minnesota lakes and rivers (Water on the
Web). This paper, in addition to
demonstrating the tremendous utility of DVT’s
for inquiry instruction, will
serve as guide for other educators interested in developing DVT’s for their
regions.
Background and
Importance
Although the science
education community has recognized the value and importance of inquiry-based
instruction for decades, the goal of inquiry-based instruction remains
elusive. To a large part, inquiry is
thwarted by (1) entrenched structures within the educational system that work
against implementation of inquiry-based teaching and (2) a lack of resources to
facilitate teachers’ efforts, especially novice teachers, to use inquiry. The recognized value of inquiry-based
instruction and the potency of these barriers are well documented (Comeaux
& Huber, 2001, Crawford, 1999; Huber, 2003; Huber, 2002; Huber & Moore,
2001a; Huber & Moore 2001b; Huber & Moore, 2000; Lederman & Niess,
1998; Moore & Huber, 2001a; National Research Council [NRC] 1996; National
Science Teachers Association [NSTA] 1998; Wong, 1998; Wong & Wong,
1998). In fact, as of 1996, the National
Science Education Standards stated that inquiry-based instruction was
literally impossible to achieve in many American schools—in the absence of
enormous pre-requisite reforms at all levels of the K-12 educational
system. These same Standards,
however, more optimistically call upon the educational community to move
forward implementing inquiry whenever and however possible, and in the process,
creating the “pathways to reform” needed to implement the vision of
inquiry-based instruction championed by the Standards. Science educators are recognizing the
unlimited potential of the Internet as both an exquisite tool for facilitating
inquiry-based instruction and for creating pathways to educational reform
(Alibrandi, 1998; Huber, 2003; Huber 2002; Huber & Harriett, 1998; Huber
& Moore, 2002; Huber & Moore, 2001a; Moore & Huber, 2001b; Warlick,
1998; Watson, 1999).
Among the most promising of Internet utilities in this respect are
those that employ Java applets that allow users to generate custom-made
graphical displays of the data found in large relevant databases, such as those
compiled as a result of large-scale long-term environmental monitoring
studies. The best of these utilities tap
into fascinating databases and allow students to readily generate easily
understood meaningful graphical displays of the data. For example, one of the DVT’s within River Run ( http://www.uncw.edu/riverrun
) provides
data and utilities for exploring data on the water quality of the Cape Fear
River from 1995 to 2003 (http://www.uncw.edu/riverrun/river-dataRR.htm)
. During these years this drainage basin
experienced a major poultry farm spill, several ruptures of hog waste lagoons,
five hurricanes, and a once-in-500-years-flood.
River Run offers
several choices for interactive data displays including the Geographic
Information Service (
Figure
1. Impact of Hurricane Bonnie on the
These Internet resources capitalize on significant resources that, until recently, have been readily available but
not in a useful form for education purposes.
Specifically, vast databases housing the data compiled by various
environmental monitoring programs have been accessible via the Internet for
some time. However, although the robust
data within these databases are ideally suited to student inquiries, the
presentation of the data has not been up to the task of supporting student
inquiry. Typically the data is
accessible only as matrix arrays of numbers on a spread sheet. Most students and many teachers have neither
the expertise to manipulate such oceans of numbers nor the conceptual framework
to visualize relationships within the numbers needed to generate inferences and
hypothesis. Thus, rather than serving as
invitations to inquiry and avenues to understanding, the data sets may do
little more than confuse and intimidate.
However, when coupled with appropriate data visualization tools, these
vast databases become ideal resources for inquiry-based science education
activities.
The value of these Internet utilities goes far beyond merely providing
a straightforward and engaging mechanism for facilitating students in learning
how to do scientific inquiry. The
utilities are extremely effective tools for teaching science content, and these
utilities have been used with substantial success to teach science content at
middle school through college graduate courses.
Also, oceanographers and other environmental science researchers become
genuinely excited over discoveries
the utilities permitted them to make.
Further, these utilities offer the promise of promoting computer and
graphic literacy among students, and they may very well form the foundation for
much needed improved online assessment tools (Huber & Moore, 2002; Huber
& Moore, 2001b; Moore & Huber, 2001b; Watson, 1999).
The
application of Java applet technology to online environmental databases not
only promises to change the way we teach science, but to change the way
environmental regulatory agencies interact with citizens. Far too often, agencies’ efforts to involve
citizens in environmental management decision-making processes are thwarted by
the scale and complexities of the issues and data associated with proposed
regulatory actions. For example, the New
River Round Table in
Figure
2. Comparing data from two different
data sources.
Examples of
Internet sites developed that use such data visualization tools to facilitate
inquiry include:
· River Run (http://www.uncw.edu/riverrun) allows students to interact
with data from monitoring programs of the Cape Fear River System and three
different data sources for the New River in Southeast
North Carolina
· River View (http://www.uncw.edu/riverview) uses
river plume data from near shore buoys off the coast of North
Carolina
· Ocean View (http://www.uncw.edu/oceanview)
taps into NOAA buoy data from around the world.
·
Water on the
Web http://waterontheweb.org/data/index.html
uses remote underwater sampling of lakes in
As demonstrated in this work with huge data bases
and a broad range of students (including middle school students), the
interactive graphs generated by these applets can be used to allow the general
public to meaningfully study complex environmental issues using large
databases. It seems very likely that it
is only a matter of time before this technology spills out from its origins in
education to a much broader range of applications.
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