Assessments

Evaluation for Field Activity #8: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 3 because I had learned about domains and creating feature classes in GIS II. I had no experience using ArcCollector before this exercise.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a raking of 5 because I took a lot of time to create domains, create the feature class, collect the data, and analyze the data. I had twice as much experience creating domains and feature classes than most other students because my original survey did not work. Before surveying cars, I had planned on surveying buckthorn, an invasive species, in Putnam Park. Once I got into the field to collect my buckthorn data, I realized the tree canopy reduced my positional accuracy to 15m or greater. I had to cancel my survey because of the poor positional accuracy. The car survey was much more successful, and positional accuracy was between 5-8 meters.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I strongly agree (rating of 5) the hands-on approach greatly added to the lab because it taught me how preparation is critical to the success of data colleciton. I had to think about what data I wanted to survey and how I wanted to survey the data before I ventured into the field. The hands-on approach also taught me that you cannot prepare for everything, and you will have to think on your feet when in the field. These lessons are very valueable for anyone to learn.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I would students use ESRI's help tutorials online to help build their domains and feauture classes. ESRI's help is also helpful for learning how to collect and edit data.

Evaluation for Field Activity #7: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 4 because Field Activity 3 had taught me the baiscs of conducting a distance azimuth survey, which was similar to the Total Station collection method. In addtion, I had used a similar Topcon laser level to collect beach ridge topography for a research project with Dr. Jol. I definitely still learned a lot of new skills in this lab though.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a raking of 4 because my group and I did a lot of trouble-shooting during the exercise, which built our knowledge and skills using the technology. In addition, the exercise built upon my knowledge of using GPS and distance azimuth methods to conduct surveys, so I feel confident I could teach others about this field exercise (and I did teach people about the field exercise at the UWEC GIS Open House).

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I agree (rating of 4) the hands-on approach of the lab helped me learn more about conducting surveys and collecting geospatial data. I had to take detailed notes to remember how to conduct the surveys, and when things didn't work my teammates and I had to trouble-shoot this issue. We ran into multiple problems, including a dead Tesla battery and difficulty connecting the Tesla to the Total Staion over bluetooth. This resulted in trouble-shooting for hours and delayed the completion of our lab, which was not always pleasant.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I would recommend posting more instructional videos of how to complete the surveys and how to trouble-shoot issues that arise.These videos could save time, better inform students how to properly conducts the surveys, and reduce student frustration with using the equipment.


Evaluation for Field Activity #6: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 4 because last week's mapping exercise helped me prepare and understand this week's field exercise. Additionally, I had navigated using a map and compass in a past class.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a raking of 3.5. I feel confident on how to determine a bearing but I still struggle with the "red in the shed" method. I always have to think about how to do the method every time, and after a while I get it. More practice is needed individually before I teach anyone.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I strongly agree (rating of 5) that the hand-on approach to this activity helped me learn how to navigate with a map and compass better than just reading about it. Although I still struggle with the "red in the shed" method, it was a lot easier to learn about it hands-on than reading. Additionally, struggling with the hills and other obstacles in the terrain helped me show how navigating in the real world doesn't always go the way you want it like on your map.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I would recommend spending more time teaching groups how to use the "red in the shed" method. This is a critical part of navigating, and I still feel like I need a better understanding of it.

Evaluation for Field Activity #5: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 4 because I had taken GIS I and Geography 200 (Foundations of Geography) before I took this class. The previous classes taught me a lot about coordinate systems, projections, and making proper maps.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a ranking of 5 because I know a lot about coordinate systems, projections, and map making.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I would respond with a ranking of 5 because creating maps and playing around with different coordinate systems and projections helped me learn what enhanced and took away from our maps of the Priory.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I would recommend comparing our maps to previous students' maps (I did multiple comparisons).


Evaluation for Field Activity #4:

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 3 because I had heard about the agricultural and military applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS's) before the field exercise. I did not know about the advantages and disadvantages of fixed wing versus rotary wing systems. Also, I learned more about potential applications of UAS’s, such as ozone monitoring,

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a rating of 4 because the field exercise gave me lots of experience working with UAS platforms and software. I also learned a lot about the applications of UAS’s. I could teach a novice the basic of unmanned aerial systems after this exercise.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I would give a rating of 5 because I learned so much from completing flight simulations, planning UAS missions, and actually flying a Phantom UAS. This helped me understand the potential applications of UAS’s, such as collecting imagery of bird nests. I also learned about the limits of UAS technology, such as limited flight times.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I would recommend students play multiplayer mode in the RealFlight flight simulator so they could complete the simulations even better. I was not able to play multiplayer because my computer froze every time I tried to join with others. A little competition never hurt anyone.


Evaluation for Field Activity #3:

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 1 (No knowledge at all) because I did not even know you could survey an area based of a control point(s) and a laser distance finder.


2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a ranking of 4 (I know enough to teach someone else) because I went through the lab, troubleshooted issues, and wrote a detailed lab report explaining the exercise methodology.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I would strongly agree (ranking of 5) that the hands on approach helped me learn about distance azimuth surveys. The general methodology of the survey made some sense before performing field work, but the hands on work really made things click well for me.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

I liked that as a class we went over problems that past students ran into when completing this field exercise. I think it would be beneficial for the class to brainstorm solutions to these problems and write them on the board or the D2L discussion page before starting the field exercise.


Evaluation for Field Activity #2: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 3. Prior to this activity, I had already conducted a survey of the terrain surface. This helped me understand how to resample the terrain more accurately. I did not know very much at all about the different interpolation methods and how they worked though prior to this activity.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a ranking of 4. I felt like I had a good understanding of how to resample the terrain in a efficient and accurate manner. I could explain the interpolation methods to someone else so that they would have a very basic understanding of them.

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I would strongly agree (ranking of 5) that the hands-on approach of the activity added to how much I learned. Creating models of the terrain survey really helped me visualize how accurate my data was. I was able to see the inaccuracies in my data, which helped me in resampling the terrain. In the end, the original models created through hands on experience in ArcMap and ArcScene helped me create the most accurate model I could in the given amount of time.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

One possible way this activity could be better would be to complete a short online course or tutorial to help us learn the difference between interpolation methods. I was sometimes confused about how different interpolations methods operated when I looked in the ArcMap Help.

Evaluation for Field Activity #1: 

1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)

I would give myself a ranking of 3. I had learned about digital elevation models in my Physical Geography and Geographic Information Systems I classes I had taken before this class.

2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)

I would give myself a ranking of 4. This exercise gave me a better understanding of what digital elevation models are used for, and I feel confident I could teach someone how to properly create a digital elevation model. 

3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)

I would strongly agree (ranking of 5) that the hands-on approach of the activity added to how much I learned. It was great to apply the theory of a digital elevation model in real life with this exercise. I believe this is a better way to imagine what a digital elevation model is instead of just learning about it on a computer or from a book.

4. What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?

One possible way the exercise could have been better was if we were shown examples of digital elevation models from the real world. This may have increased our understanding of digital elevation models before starting the exercise.