RAPID: The Virtual Field: Educational mitigation for the Covid-19 Pandemic

Biological Sciences - The Covid-19 pandemic is causing massive disruption to field education in the U.S. and internationally and is forecasted to continue to cause field course cancellations over the next year. The impacts of this disruption on STEM education is anticipated to be substantial. A 2014 study by the National Research Council found that field experiences boost motivation, retention, critical thinking and academic success for students of all backgrounds and disciplines and are particularly important for recruitment into the environmental sciences. Building on a grassroots effort of 50 Field Stations and Marine Laboratories representing 34 field site networks (e.g., NEON, LTER, LTAR, GLEON), this project will leverage existing collaborations, programs and initiatives to: establish a field learning portal to advertise and distribute virtual materials and live-streaming research-based field events to universities across the U.S.; create novel cross-site virtual field learning experiences that boost critical observation and research skills; evaluate the efficacy of virtual field experiences on student learning outcomes. These experiences will help fulfill graduation requirements and prepare undergraduates and graduates impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic for future careers.

This pandemic offers unique opportunities to generate insights for the development of virtual field experiences as a novel teaching tool. The urgent need for virtual teaching materials across all disciplines encourages adoption by faculty who might otherwise never have used either virtual or field experiences in their courses. The synchronous prioritization of virtual offerings by field stations and marine laboratories opens the window to creating a broad array of multi-site virtual experiences around the world. The resulting dramatic expansion in the availability and use of virtual field experiences can create new opportunities to assess the effects of this teaching tool on student observation and research skills and to enhance preparedness for future disruptions. This RAPID award is made by the Division of Biological Infrastructure using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.