Augmented Forests: Supplementing Forestry Field Instruction with Virtual Field Instruction and Dynamic Adaptive Quizzing to Build Skills and Knowledge

The ability to identify indicator plant species is a critical skill for forestry students. In FRST 201 –Forest Ecology, students learn to identify 70 key plant species and the soil moisture and soil nutrient conditions that they indicate. This knowledge is critical to responsible forest management and requisite for subsequent courses. The identification and characteristics of these plants are taught in the field, but increasing enrollment and language challenges (with increasing numbers of ESL students) makes it more difficult for students to learn the plants in the field. We seek to improve student plant identification skills and knowledge by supplementing field instruction with engaging, web-based, open resources to support student self-study. We will produce professional videos showing these plants and their characteristics, and we will develop a web-based, dynamic quizzing system for students to practice and test their knowledge. These resources will support significant self-study outside of field instruction.