SEISMIC ROAD TRIP: USING EXISTING STUDENT EXPERIENCE AS A BRIDGE TO NEW INSIGHT IN COMPUTER LITERACY

Abstract

One important aspect of effective instruction isto bridge the intellectual span from existing studentexperience to the acquisition of new knowledge. This workin-progress describes one demonstration designed to use astudent's experience traveling on roads damaged by regionalfreeze-thaw cycles as a segue into discussions ranging fromseismic detection to geographic information systems for acomputer literacy course. Specifically, this report describesthe use of data from accelerometers built into the hard-driveprotection component of an off-the-shelf computer coupledwith GPS data to form a seismic picture and a Google-Mapoverlay of a typical road trip.Index Terms ⎯ Computer Science Pedagogy, SeismicSensors, GPS, Technology Education.