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Abstract According to the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, today’s biology graduates lack the key species identification skills required by prospective employees. This mismatch between students’ skills and employers’ requirements has serious implications for employability after graduation. Interactive species identification apps on mobile learning devices, such as iPads, have the potential to encourage active engagement with the process of identification and provide a means for students to (re)connect with nature. A pilot study funded by a Keele University teaching innovation grant and School of Life Sciences teaching equipment grant investigated the potential of iPad educational apps to boost species identification skills. Working in pairs, twelve final year undergraduate students were given one hour to locate eight target trees on the Keele campus using the Here&Near app and then utilise four tree species ID apps (FSC trees, ForestXplorer, LeafsnapHD and Isoperla’s TreeID) to identify the tree species. The students completed pre- and post-activity evaluation questionnaires and produced a post-activity reflective audio commentary using Fotobabble. The pre-study questionnaire revealed that 92% of students thought tree ID apps would aid identification skills, while only 50% of students agreed that iPads would facilitate collaboration. The post-study evaluation revealed that not all tree apps were equally useful in learning, along with a transformation of student opinion regarding the collaborative aspect of the activity. The second phase of the study is to embed a modified version of the tree tour into a first year undergraduate practical, and evaluate how this affects the ability to correctly identify trees on the lab exam. The preliminary results from this study indicate that a group-orientated collaborative problem-solving approach encouraged communication and development of skills based on all their senses (visual, verbal, etc.).
Citation preview
iPads as collaborative tools to enhance biological identification skills in the lab and
field
Dr Sarah L. Taylor* & Ms Trish Procter*[email protected]
Funded by the Keele University Teaching Innovation Projects Scheme
Talk contents
Study design
Critical incidents
Innovation project
Pilot results
Where to next?
The problem…
The problem…
For a whole generation of today’s children, the
pleasures of a free-range childhood are
missing
The problem…
Prolific integration of technology into our lives means we are losing the ability to
use all of our senses
The problem…
Traditional paper-based taxonomic ID
keys are difficult to use
May & Panter (2000) Field Studies 9, 711-764.
The problem…
http://www.bshs.org.uk/closure-of-university-of-birmingham-biological-recording-courses-e-petition
Academic institutions have stepped away from traditional taxonomic courses
The problem…UK parliamentary assessment: • “There are no lichen taxonomists left in British
universities" (British Lichen Society, p208) • “Near-elimination of taxonomists from the
university sector in the UK" (Systematics Association, p112)
• “Whole set of skills and expertise to maintain the international standards for identification is disappearing rapidly from the UK" (Research Councils UK, p39)
Source: House of Lords Science and Technology Fifth Report (2008), Chapter 3. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldsctech/162/16206.htm
The problem…
“Ecological consultants … are really struggling for properly qualified people with taxonomic identification skills” (Professor Richard Gornall, President of the BSBI, Q175)
The problem…
“National decline in species ID skills at a time when it has never been more important to protect the nation’s biodiversity and sustainability of ecosystems” (IEEM, 2011)
E.g., “1 in 8 of world’s birds are globally threatened with extinction” (Birdlife, 2013)
Innovation project
12 month project:• Funded by innovation grant to “improve
student learning experience and foster student engagement”
• Supported by a School equipment bid– 12 iPads – MacBook Pro to manage the iPads in Apple
Configurator
Innovation project
AIM: Investigate the potential of a collaborative iPad-based problem-solving activity to enhance tree ID skills
Objectives:1. Develop a guided tree tour2. Critique suitability of tree ID apps3. Evaluate impact of activity on student learning
Innovation project
Selling points of the study:• Mobile learning devices offer the
opportunity to engage today’s students in the process of species ID in ways previously out of reach in a field setting
• Mobile learning devices can be used as a means of bridging the communication gap to help students work collaboratively
Study design
Semester 1 pilot study:• Voluntary 3-hour workshop
– Students given 1-hour to complete ID task– Pre and post-evaluation questionnaires,
reflective diaries• Engagement encouraged by
– Pizza, certificate, £10 Amazon voucher!!
Semester 2 test study:• Embed activity into labs of Year 1 module
Study design
Guided tree tour• Here&Near iPhone app• Required to find 8 trees
Study designFour Tree ID apps:• FSC Trees
– Field Studies Council (free)
• ForestXplorer – Forestry Commission (free)
• LeafsnapHD – Columbia University,
University of Maryland & Smithsonian Institute (free)
• TreeID – The British Tree ID Guide – Isoperla Ltd (£2.49) Screen shot of FSC app
Study design
Evaluation and feedback:• Fotobabble (free)• Quickoffice Quickoffice (free)• Video camera (inbuilt) (free)
Pilot resultsPre-conceptions (questionnaire):• 42% of students had used learning device in
university education setting– 8% in school , 8% in college
• 92% of students thought tree ID apps would “aid identification skills”
iPod iPad iPhone Android Other0
1020304050607080
% st
uden
ts
What learning device do you own?
Pilot resultsFirst 3 minutes:• Video of me giving
instructions posted to YouTube (without my consent)
• One student “broke iPad”
• Screen displays changed to photographs of themselves
“Was like being at kindergarten”
Pilot resultsSelf-documentation of activity
Pilot resultsSelf-documentation of activity
Students made notes in Here&Near app about ID process and ease of finding the trees, etc.
Pilot resultsWhich tree app?• Leafsnap HD “did not aid learning”• General consensus that “no app alone could cope
with the range of targeted tree species”%
stud
ents
top
rate
d
FSC tr
ees
Fores
tXplorer
Leafs
nap HD
TreeID
0102030405060708090
Top rated tree app
Pilot resultsTreeID “was worth the £2.49 charge”
Do iPads facilitate collaboration? • One third increased rating after event
iPads facilitate collaboration
neut
ral-n
eutra
l
agre
e-ag
ree
disag
ree-
neut
ral
disag
ree-
agre
e
neut
ral-a
gree
Res
pons
es (
%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Pilot results
Increase in post-workshop ratingNo change
Pilot results
Reflective diaries:• “it [collaboration]
showed me that there is disagreement in certain plant identifications”
• Collaborative approach made students feel “safe to fail”
Fotobabble screenshot
Critical incidents
Pilot study:• Hampered by patchy
nature of the outdoor wifi signal– Reduced GPS accuracy– Hard to locate tree– Prevented access to
ForestXplorer app
Wifi coverage
Critical incidents
Test study:• Applebook Pro committed
suicide 7 days before workshop– Had to be returned to AppleCare
to be reconfigured– Lost Apple Configurator settings
• Had to cancel activity as no means of managing iPads
Where to next?• Test study has been postponed to 2014-15
module run• Pilot study report will be submitted for MA
module “Learning and Teaching with Technology”
• Develop Here&Near app education tours in other parts of the Biology programme– Habitat surveys in LSC-30043 Conservation
Biology– Lichen churchyard surveys in LSC-20002
Symbiosis
Where to next?• The fundamental issues holding back
use of iPads in teaching is– Reliability of technology– Challenges of using a device designed for
individual use in a group setting– Ease of management of system (Apple
Configurator is evil)
AcknowledgementsMany thanks to the following final year undergraduate students who gave up their spare time to participate on the pilot study workshop: Amy collier, Davy Falkner, Holly Farrington, Abi Gazzard, Kristen Hirsh-Pearson, Katie Marsh, Kenroy Millwood, Alex Melson, Max Reboul, Ben Salt, Richard Sant, and Nathan Wisniewski. Finally, thanks to Craig Armstrong and Yassir Rashid in Computing Services for their technical assistance in the mysterious workings of Apple Configurator.
