Classroom versus Outdoor Biology Education Using a Woody Species Identification Digital Dichotomous Key

Abstract

The effectiveness of outdoor education in comparison to classroom (indoor) education and the acceptance of biology apps by students is still largely unknown. To bridge this gap, a quasi-experiment was performed with secondary school students within each of the schools. Students used a digital dichotomous key to identify woody species. One school performed outdoor identification and the other indoor identification. The students completed a pre-test and post-test on botanical knowledge, and they completed questionnaires about their attitudes toward the key and their attitudes toward biology and learning. The identification of plants with the app proved to be successful in promoting learning regardless of the learning scenario. The comparable results of the indoor and outdoor tasks indicate that the app itself is effective for learning about plants. There were no significant gender-related differences in knowledge results and opinions about the usefulness of biological keys. The key was very well accepted by students and it has proven to be an effective, interesting, and convenient learning tool for identifying organisms that allows experiential learning and learning about biology during the identification process. Published in Nat. Sci. Educ. 46 (2017) doi:10.4195/nse2016.11.0032 Received 19 Nov. 2016 Accepted 12 Jan. 2017 Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Agronomy 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711 USA All rights reserved core ideas • The digital identification key proved to be successful in promoting learning, regardless of the learning scenario.• Students who gained better results on the tests also had a better opinion about the app and its usefulness for learning about organisms.• No major gender-related differences were found in attitudes toward the use of this app and in knowledge.

The iNaturalist Application in Biology Education: A Systematic Review

“…Physical biology keys were also often provided to participants to help with identification (Unger et al, 2021). This is also important because the use of dichotomous digital biology keys has been shown to be successful in improving students' knowledge of species (Laganis et al, 2017;Torkar, 2021). The use of keys could therefore help students become familiar with an organism they are trying to identify (Jacquemart et al, 2016).…”

“…One useful ICT for teaching biology is the digital biology key. Biology identification keys are very effective in improving students' knowledge of plant species names (Anđić et al, 2019;Laganis et al, 2017;Torkar, 2021). Thomas and Fellowes (2017) discovered that, even if there was no significant difference in obtaining species knowledge between using books and apps to identify species, mobile devices offered more opportunities for students to engage with the subject outside of the allocated teaching time due to their general portability and accessibility.…”

The factors which influence the continuance intention of teachers in using the interactive digital identification key for trees in elementary school science education

“…Alongside research on students at the university level of education and the contribution of the DIK to their knowledge or opinions, some researchers have conducted analogue studies with students in secondary and primary schools. Laganis et al (2017) explored the effectiveness of DIKs in outdoor and classroom plant identification by students in secondary schools. They concluded that the DIK provides to the students effective, interesting, experiential and convenient learning.…”

Inovativno učenje in poučevanje za kakovostne kariere diplomantov in odlično visoko šolstvo

“…Priporočljivo je, da so študentje predhodno seznanjeni z učnimi gradivi, merilnimi napravami in s pripomočki za terensko delo. Vse uporabnejše postajajo uporabne različne brezplačne aplikacije za mobilno učenje (Anđić, Cvijetićanin, Maričić in Stešević, 2018;Anđić, Cvjetićanin, Lavicza, Maričić, Novović in Stešević, 2020;Ruchter, Klar in Geiger, 2010;Laganis, Prosen in Torkar, 2017;Thomas in Fellowes, 2017). Seznanjeni naj bodo tudi z ukrepi ob nesreči na terenu in osebnimi potrebščinami, kot so: oblačila, obutev, beležka, fotoaparat, prenočevanje, prehrana, denar itn.…”