2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

FossilSketch is an educational web application designed to teach microfossil identification through interactive activities, including videos, mini-games, and exercises. By connecting fossil identification to real-world environmental change, FossilSketch has the potential to foster awareness of topics ranging from ocean processes to climate change. Although designed for college students, in this study, we argue that FossilSketch is a novel application tool with the potential to introduce micropaleontology concepts to high school students. For this reason, we introduced FossilSketch during a long-running outreach program Sea Camp, a residential summer educational camp in Texas A&M Galveston that engages students in hands-on marine science, ecology, and environmental research experiences.

In this study, we describe an integration of FossilSketch application in three separate cohorts. During the outreach camp, participants engaged with FossilSketch for a ~120-minute session, during which they explored microfossil-focused activities. Each cohort participated in activities that included a brief lecture-style introduction to microfossils by an expert, followed by a FossilSketch session. The FossilSketch session featured interactive mini-games and exercises that allowed students to practice fossil identification and apply their newly acquired skills to environmental reconstructions. With each iteration of the outreach camp, additional activities were introduced to provide students with more direct environmental examples, helping link fossil evidence to modern climate and ecological issues.

To explore students' perceptions about FossilSketch in this outreach setting, students completed an open-ended questionnaire at the end of the learning session. The questions were designed to capture students' perceptions of micropaleontology and their engagement with FossilSketch. A total of 68 student responses were collected over two years. The first cohort (2024) participated before the introduction of regionally specific environmental exercises, and the two subsequent cohorts (2025) used FossilSketch after the new locally focused exercises were introduced. In this paper, we provide a synthesis of students' perceptions across years and answer the following question: 1) How do students' perceptions about micropaleontology knowledge, depth of disciplinary understanding, and their enthusiasm change over time as more targeted environmental activities are introduced in FossilSketch?

The data were analyzed using a multi-method approach. First, we used qualitative content analysis to code open-ended responses, identify common themes, and derive takeaways. Second, we applied descriptive analysis to summarize how students perceived the FossilSketch activities. Third, we compared the results across the two years to assess whether the addition of locally focused environmental activities influenced students' learning and interest. Additionally, data were coded for students' positive, negative, and neutral perceptions to determine whether participation in FossilSketch has changed students' enthusiasm for micropaleontology across cohorts. Results indicate a clear shift across cohorts from morphology-focused descriptions toward applied and integrative environmental reasoning, with students in the 2025 implementations more frequently demonstrating higher-level micropaleontology knowledge, and application of micropaleontological concepts, while overall student interest in micropaleontology remained stable across cohorts.

This study is novel and contributes insights into how blended approaches (combining digital games, videos, and traditional instruction) can influence high school students' perceptions in specialized scientific disciplines. Furthermore, the results help clarify the utility of FossilSketch by demonstrating how location-based educational activities can engage high school students in gathering and interpreting place-specific data, fostering early familiarity with the scientific tools used to study environmental change.