Presented at CINTEC 2001 - International Conference on New Technologies in Science Education, Aveiro, Portugal, July, 2001
Abstract: Polarizing microscopes are expensive instruments and therefore are almost non-existent in portuguese secondary schools. This situation means that students do not often have contact with this basic tool to observe and characterise geological materials. To get around this problem, multimedia contents in the portuguese language were developed in order to distribute them using on- and off-line technologies. The multimedia hyperdocument uses virtual reality techniques, which allow the simulation of real microscopic observations. The observation of thin-sections under polarizing microscopes is a dynamic activity (different characteristics observed with stage rotation, analyser insertion for crossed polars observations, etc.). The electronic media presents great advantages when compared to traditional media where rocks observations are only represented in still images. The development of multimedia contents is one of the ways to improve the quality of Geosciences teaching-learning, enhancing the scientific culture of the students and increasing their awareness to geological subjects.
Key-words: geology, internet, virtual reality, teaching-learning.