Evaluating Differences in Landscape Interpretation between Webcam and Field-Based Experiences

Abstract

Field trips have become less common due to issues including budget constraints and large class sizes. Research suggests that virtual field trips can substitute for field visits, but the role of webcams has not been evaluated. To investigate the potential for webcams to substitute for field trips, participants viewed urban and physical landscapes either in-person or by webcam. Differences in landscape interpretation responses between webcam viewers and field trip participants were often statistically insignificant, suggesting that webcams hold potential as substitutes for field trips. However, upon reflection, field trip participants valued their experience, while webcam participants had mixed views.

Keywords:

• Webcam
• landscape interpretation
• virtual
• field visits

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Grant for Research from the National Council for Geographic Education. The authors would like to thank undergraduate research assistants Chris Garlock and John Oliver for assistance in organizing field trips and with data collection and entry. Additionally, we appreciate the participation of students from the Virginia Tech Department of Geography, and the Mountain Geography and Introduction to Human Geography courses. Finally, the authors appreciate the useful feedback and suggestions from anonymous reviewers and the editor on previous drafts of the manuscript.

Notes

¹ Institutional Review Board approval was granted for data collection.