Optimizing Learning of Scientific Category Knowledge in the Classroom: The Case of Plant Identification

Kirchoff, Bruce K.; Delaney, Peter F.; Horton, Meg; Dellinger-Johnston, Rebecca

doi:10.1187/cbe.13-11-0224

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In the field of forestry, it is important that students are familiar with certain plant species and their ecological characteristics. Teaching these skills to students presents multiple challenges (Kirchoff et al., 2014; Schussler & Olzak, 2008). In order to better support student learning of plant identification and ecological characteristics in an undergraduate forest ecology course at UBC, I developed three supplemental resources: videos, an informational web site, and a dynamic quizzing platform.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the fields of ecology and forestry, many ecosystem classification systems rely on identification of forest understory plant species (Kotar, Kovach, & Burger, 2002; MacKinnon, Meidinger, & Klinka, 1992). Unfortunately, students often have minimal knowledge of plants generally, and they possess limited identification skills (Kirchoff, Delaney, Horton, & Dellinger‐Johnston, 2014). This, along with the logistical challenges of field or laboratory instruction, means that teaching plant identification is a difficult undertaking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students often struggle to identify plant species (Kirchoff et al., 2014; Schussler & Olzak, 2008). The general inability to see or notice plants and to focus on animals over plants has been termed plant blindness (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999), and it is argued that biology education should therefore increase its focus on plants (Jose, Wu, & Kamoun, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The general inability to see or notice plants and to focus on animals over plants has been termed plant blindness (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999), and it is argued that biology education should therefore increase its focus on plants (Jose, Wu, & Kamoun, 2019). Teaching plant identification also presents logistical challenges including bringing live specimens into the classroom, or conversely, taking students into the field (Kirchoff et al., 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, students often have minimal knowledge of plants generally, and they possess limited identification skills (Kirchoff, Delaney, Horton, & Dellinger-Johnston, 2014). This, along with the logistical challenges of field or laboratory instruction, means that teaching plant identification is a difficult undertaking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplementing forestry field instruction with video and online dynamic quizzing

Culbert

2020

Natural Sciences Education

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Plant identification is a critical skill for students in biological sciences, especially forestry. Many students begin with limited plant identification abilities and struggle to learn this skill. To support student learning of identification and ecological characteristics of important forest plants in an undergraduate forest ecology course at the University of British Columbia, I developed 53 videos, a companion website, and a dynamic quizzing system. The professionally produced, short videos each featured identification and ecological characteristics of a plant species, filmed in the field. The companion information website contained the embedded videos, botanical drawings, photographs, and general information for each species. The online, dynamic practice-quizzing system allowed students to select which species they wanted to be quizzed on. Questions about those plants were then dynamically generated following several question templates, enabling students to take many practice quizzes with few or no repeated questions. Students were surveyed to gain insight into usage patterns and opinions of these resources. Student feedback was positive, and all three resources were heavily used. The videos are publicly available and have more than 43,000 views. Although this project required significant time and financial resources to produce, I found that field instruction can be supported by optional online resources that are both appreciated and heavily used by students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplementing forestry field instruction with video and online dynamic quizzing

Culbert

2020

Natural Sciences Education

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Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on field instruction and remote teaching alternatives: Results from a survey of instructors

Barton

2020

Ecology and Evolution

115

103

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Basic and applied disciplines rooted in ecology and evolution traditionally rely on experiential field instruction to teach key learning outcomes representing natural history, study design, field methods, and the process of scientific inquiry (Fleischner et al., 2017; Herman, 2002; Tewksbury et al., 2014). Other disciplines, such as the geosciences, similarly rely upon field activities in instruction (Whitmeyer & Mogk, 2009). Field activities, defined here as educational activities that occur outside and involve interaction with the natural or built environment (Fleischner et al., 2017), can provide unique and engaging instruction that is often vital to learning outcomes of postsecondary courses, even when they represent a relatively small portion of instruction (Harland, Spronken-Smith, Dickinson, & Pickering, 2006; Hole, 2018). Potential impacts of reduction and elimination of field activities and natural history education from undergraduate curricula have been previously recognized (Tewksbury et al., 2014) as have potential solutions (Fleischner et al., 2017). Despite its potential importance, biology education research appears to have paid relatively little attention to postsecondary field teaching compared to classroom teaching (Singer, Nielsen, & Schweingruber, 2013) or relative to other disciplines (e.g. geography; Boyle et al., 2007). The COVID-19 pandemic (Fauci, Lane, & Redfield, 2020) has clearly posed a unique set of challenges to higher education

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BotanizeR: A flexible R package with Shiny app to practice plant identification for online teaching and beyond

Weigelt

Denelle

Brambach

et al. 2021

Plants People Planet

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Confronting the ongoing biodiversity crisis and our incomplete taxonomic knowledge on the world's plants requires well-trained experts able to recognize and identify species. Although botanical training is an integral part of many university programs in biology, plant identification skills are becoming rare. The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged plant identification classes as many courses rely on hands-on practicing with plant material or guided excursions. Here, we present BotanizeR, a flexible online tool to make the wealth of digitally available but scattered information on plant characteristics accessible and allow users to practice plant identification.BotanizeR can assist in teaching plant knowledge in a playful way during times of online teaching and beyond and may help to increase the fascination of biology students and laypeople alike for plant diversity.

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Optimizing Learning of Scientific Category Knowledge in the Classroom: The Case of Plant Identification

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Supplementing forestry field instruction with video and online dynamic quizzing

Supplementing forestry field instruction with video and online dynamic quizzing

Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on field instruction and remote teaching alternatives: Results from a survey of instructors

BotanizeR: A flexible R package with Shiny app to practice plant identification for online teaching and beyond

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