Duxbury/Introduction to the World's Oceans, 6/e

Instructor Profiles

In The Driver's Seat

Do you remember your first time surfing the Web? What about your first e-mail message? Was it in a computer science course? Perhaps a special orientation session?

Strangely enough, several Penn State University students had their first exposure to the Internet in an oceanography course.

Dr. Michael Arthur, head of the Penn State Department of Geosciences, has used technology in teaching and research for some time. For example, he has participated in studies of life in the oxygen-minimum zone aboard the ALVIN and Johnson Sealink submersibles. In the realm of computer technology, he is the author of his own lab manual, which includes exercises using STELLA, a scientific modeling program for Macintosh systems. In addition, Arthur has taught himself the rudiments of programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Persuasion, and Macromedia Director to help him prepare class materials.

By May, 1995, he had learned enough about the World Wide Web to decide that it, too, might make a great teaching tool.

That summer, he started building a web site of his own for students in his general oceanography course, which was already heavily based in computer technology. By spring 1996, the web site was ready.

The Geosciences 40 web site includes virtually all the information students in the course could want, including Arthur's lecture notes, ancillary illustrations, exams, and an extensive list of other sites dedicated to oceanography and the geosciences.

The course home page, designed as an out-of-class resource, pushed the students to navigate the Internet on their own. To encourage solo navigation further, Arthur offered extra credit to students finding sites suitable for addition to his already extensive list. Arthur also stressed the Internet in the classroom, taking the time to hand students instructions for electronic mail and World Wide Web navigation.

Students in the course embraced its technological focus. In a special evaluation survey, roughly 50% of the students said the oceanography course actually was their Internet initiation. Many even reported having little or no prior computer experience. Arthur was amazed when he received several notes of thanks for pushing students to access the world of computer technology.

While Arthur intended the web site for his students, he has found that many fellow instructors and professionals visit his site just to peruse his extensive list of geology and oceanography sites.

What of the future? Arthur continues to hone the computer-based courseware for his oceanography course. Students will continue to learn about the Internet by default as they study their oceanography. And about half will remember Michael Arthur as the driver on their first trip down the information superhighway.

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