EMAP West Training Presentations Jay Araas Department of Statistics In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D

1. EMAP West Training Presentations Jay Araas Department of Statistics In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Spring 2006

2. Acknowledgments • Funded by STAR grants awarded to CSU and OSU by U.S. EPA • IT Department at Sheridan College • Numerous people involved in the development of materials: • N. Scott Urquhart – director of STARMAP (CSU) • Jon Stoddard – U.S. EPA (Corvallis, Oregon) • Dave Peck – U.S. EPA (Corvallis, Oregon) • Phil Kaufmann – U.S. EPA (Corvallis, Oregon) • Bob Hughes – Dyanamac, Inc. • Other contributors: A.T. Herlihy (OSU), Michael Barbour & Kristen Pavlik (Tetra Tech, Inc.)

3. Overview of Materials • Background • Goals • Content of Materials • Questions Addressed • PowerPoint Training Presentations • Appendices • Features • Audio (with text) • Bookmarks • Links • Disadvantages/Difficulties • Audio • Navigation • Converting PowerPoint to PDF • Proposed Direction • Suggested Improvements • Future Learning Materials • Conclusion • Questions/Comments

4. Overview Background • Big Picture • Learning materials developed by STARMAP at CSU and DAMARS at OSU • Used by water quality personnel in States and Tribes to monitor (measure) aquatic resources • Part of EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) • Specialized Materials • Training presentations for States and Tribes in the western United States (EMAP West) • Address the questions: Why monitor? Where to monitor? What to monitor? How to monitor? • Based on field crew training seminar done in May, 2004, in Corvallis, Oregon

5. Overview Goals • Main objectives • Further develop the learning materials for surface water monitoring to effectively train personnel whom are involved in the EMAP program • Compile the PowerPoint training presentations into a user-friendly format • Link audio narration and with accompanied text to each presentation • Other goals • Use knowledge of statistics to incorporate a relevant glossary of terms and effectively communicate other information to those with limited knowledge in the subject matter • Learn to use Adobe Acrobat program to effectively communicate information via audio/visual demonstrations.

6. Content • Topics Addressed • What to monitor (measure) at each probability site • How to monitor (measure) at each probability site • Other topics discussed: Why monitor water; Where to conduct water monitoring • Future topics to be covered: How to summarize data; Case studies • PowerPoint Training Presentations • Contributed by those involved in the 2004 training workshop • Include necessary details and information about surface water monitoring methods • Appendices • Detailed instructions to aid the user in viewing and navigating through the interactive materials • Table of Contents provides information on where in the learning materials one can find information on a certain topic • Glossary provides detailed definitions and explanations of terms or phrases that are commonly misinterpreted

7. Features • Audio Narration • Audio narration is used to further enhance the learning experience by providing detailed explanations and examples of the topics covered • Most pages in the presentation have a link to the audio narration located in the upper right hand corner of the page • The user can simultaneously view a corresponding text version of the narration if they prefer to do so • Bookmarks • If you would prefer to jump ahead in the presentation to a certain section, you can make use of the Bookmarks (which work like a more detailed table of contents). • Links • Links are set up for easy navigation between numerous pages in the document and the glossary • Links to web pages and email addresses are also present if the user has access to the internet

8. Viewing Instructions Option 1: Set up your viewing screen to a 2-page layout, so that the text version of the audio accompanies its corresponding slide. Do this by clicking on the “Facing” button, located in the bottom right corner (the button on the far right).

9. Viewing Instructions Option 2: If you prefer not to have the accompanied text slides, then the click on the “Single Page” button in the bottom right corner (the button on the far left). This will set the viewing screen to show one page at a time, automatically enlarging the size of the slide that is shown.

10. AppendicesTable of Contents Glossary

11. Features • Audio • In order to access the audio for a slide, double-click on the sound icon in the upper right corner of the slide. The audio selection for that slide will then play – adjustments in the volume may be necessary. Once the audio for that particular slide is finished, it will automatically stop, and you can then proceed to the next slide. (Note: some slides do not have audio comments)

12. Features • Bookmarks • If you would prefer to jump ahead in the presentation to a certain section, you can make use of the Bookmarks (which works like a table of contents). • To access the Bookmarks, click the “Bookmarks” tab, located on the top left of the screen, directly below the left edge of the toolbar. This will list the section headings of the different presentations that were combined to make this one large presentation. • To access individual sections (if you want to go to a certain page in the document), click the “plus signs” associated with each presentation. After doing this, you should now be able to click on an individual heading and go to that page in the document. • Note: Every page in the presentation (excluding the text for the audio) has a relevant heading which should help you quickly access information on a specific topic.

13. Features • Bookmarks • The picture below depicts the Bookmarks tab within the Adobe Reader program. B = an expanded bookmark C = bookmark options (which includes expanding and condensing bookmarks, and changing text size) Expands the current bookmark (highlighted bookmark)

14. Features • Links • There may be some words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you, and you want a brief definition or explanation as to what it means. You can then look them up in the glossary, located in the Appendix. • A selection of words and phrases are linked to a glossary that you can access from anywhere in the document by clicking on that word or phrase. Otherwise, you can access the glossary by using the Bookmarks. • Another important feature of this presentation is the presence of links between pages. For example, say you were trying to access all the information regarding “Laying out the reach.” • You can use the Bookmarks to search through all the headings and find the ones that are related to “laying out the reach.” This will automatically move you to another page in the document that has a related topic.

15. Features • Links • For example, in the presentation page below, you would be able to click on “EMAP” to access a detailed description of this program in the glossary.

16. Difficulties • Audio • Audio from original videotapes was not usable • Had to record audio with limited equipment • Conversion to PDF • Embedded objects in PowerPoint are not always compatible with Adobe PDF (Ex. Video/Audio in PowerPoint converts to JPEG in PDF) • Text and pictures sometimes changed size or format • Other obstacles • Large file size takes time to modify and save, as well as very difficult to send via email • Most changes within document must be done in original PowerPoint file and then converted to PDF

17. Disadvantages • Audio • Limited playback capabilities • Navigation • Adobe program does not have a quick method of returning to a previously viewed page • Viewing • Not every Adobe program is set up to view the Bookmarks upon startup • Not every Adobe program is set up to view the materials in the correct format needed to view the narrated text alongside the corresponding presentation page • Different versions of Adobe Reader may not be compatible with all the features

18. Proposed Direction • Suggested Improvements to these Materials • Better quality of audio • Improved audio playback capabilities • Correct page layout view upon startup of program • Quick navigation to previously viewed page • Links to training videos • Expanded glossary • Any other improvements that can improve the educational value • Future Focus of Learning Materials • How to summarize data • Case studies

19. Conclusion • Goals • Each goal was addressed and completed • Application to Statistics • Used my knowledge of statistics in developing understandable audio narrations and relevant glossary • Applicable in my career area - teaching • Final Product • Printable version of the presentation with the accompanying narrative text • Interactive PDF tutorial available on CD-ROM • Feedback • Any criticism or suggestions are welcome so that the learning materials can be continually refined and improved from the current version • Suggestions and comments can be addressed to myself, Jay Araas, or N. Scott Urquhart, the administrator of the STARMAP program at Colorado State University, at the following email addresses: Jay Araas – jaraas@sheridan.edu N. Scott Urquhart – nsu@stat.colostate.edu