Interactive Geovisualizations (iGEO): A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Physical Geography

Students completing an introductory physical geography course used an interactive geovisualizations (iGEO) lab exercise centered around lightning in northern Arizona to investigate atmospheric processes. This iGEO looks and plays like a conventional videogame where the student controls an avatar in a 3D environment. This iGEO was inspired by moving the introductory physical geography courses online due to the ongoing university closures to "on-the-ground classes" related the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of an iGEO rests in increasing motivation and encouraging active, engaged learning for students, many of whom are taking the course for required college credit. Most students expressed positive experiences with the new iGEO; the determining factors related to this experience centered around enjoyment, usability, and simplicity of the game. There was also a difference in student experience based on student academic majors. Students of non-geographic or science backgrounds had a lower experience rating than those who did have a geographic or science background. Overall, students preferred the iGEO lab over traditional lab coursework. This research led to a refined iGEO lab for lightning in northern Arizona and it was made available to all interested faculty via a public website, along with three other iGEO-based labs.