Abstract
We have developed an interactive computer-based tutorial in sandstone petrology for undergraduate-level students. The goal of this tutorial is to provide students exposure to the highly visual subject matter of petrography outside the confines of organized laboratory exercises. This paper describes the architecture and development procedures of the current version of the sandstone petrography tutorial, and offers a possible model for similar development approaches in other fields of petrography or in any other field that utilizes large quantities of visual material such as remote sensing image interpretation or seismic interpretation. The tutorial is an interactive photomicrograph archive with sufficient content and flexible architecture that functions as a virtual laboratory instructor as well as a stand-alone reference. The current tutorial was programmed using Macromedia Authorware v.6.0 and supports both Windows-based and MacOS personal computers. The tutorial is constructed around the Folk sandstone classification scheme (quartzarenite, arkose, and litharenite), and an additional section addresses grains other than quartz, feldspar, and lithic fragments and sandstones dominated by these grains. The user interface is designed to take minimal portion of the screen area so that the screen can closely mimic the type of view seen by a student peering down a microscope. Each photomicrograph in the tutorial is basically unadorned until the user actively calls up information that is temporarily displayed over the image, inducing the user to search for information and actively "ask" to be informed with a mouse click. The structure of the tutorial permits multiple strategies of program use, as a linear tutorial, tutorial driven by thumbnail browser, and as a searchable reference.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1127-1135 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Computers and Geosciences |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 Nov |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0088763-036582000. Support has also been provided by the College of Natural Sciences, the University of Texas at Austin through student-funded technology fees. We thank Drs. Ted Walker, Kathie Marsaglia, Shirley Dutton, and Robert Folk for reviewing the tutorial in its various stages. Coco Kishi of the Center for Instructional Technology, University of Texas at Austin provided valuable insights during initial design and final phase of the tutorial. We are also grateful to Luis Crespo and Petro Papazis for their assistance in image digitizing, user interface design, programming, and debugging. SJC is grateful to Dr. William Fisher for his encouragements throughout the development of the tutorial. We thank Dr. Alan Boyle of Liverpool University and an anonymous C&G reviewer who provided many constructive suggestions for improving the clarity of the text.
Keywords
- Digital imaging
- Interactive multimedia
- Petrography
- Sandstones
- Sedimentary petrology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Information Systems
- Computers in Earth Sciences