PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 16: Ecology Education
Tuesday, August 9, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Virtual Ecological Inquiry (VEI) - A virtual learning environment for ecological education and assessment research.
Wu, X. Ben*,1, Knight, Stephanie1, Yue, Chen1, Yin, Chuanru2, Schielack, Jane1, Yan, Baoping2, 1 Texas A&M University, College Station, TX2 Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
ABSTRACT- The Virtual Ecological Inquiry (VEI) is a virtual learning environment being developed as a component of the Virtual Science Museum (VSM) of China for ecological education and assessment research, as a collaborative research project between the NSF-funded Information Technology in Science (ITS) Center for Teaching and Learning at Texas A&M University and the Computer Network Information Center (CNIC) of Chinese Academy of Sciences and supported by NSF and NSF-China. This virtual learning environment, based on the landscape ecology of the Wolong Natural Reserve, provides opportunities for the learner to observe ecological patterns, generate testable hypotheses, design and conduct virtual field investigations, analyze the data, and make ecological interpretations. Assessment tools built into the VEI will enable both the learner and the facilitator to evaluate effectiveness of IT-based ecological education approach on learning and attitudes toward ecology. These and other assessment tools will also be used by researchers to investigate the impact of IT-based ecological education and explore the mechanisms in terms of underlying learning processes. In particular, novel approaches based on behavioral data of registered users collected by this learning environment are being developed and will be used to assess learning and attitudes. This virtual learning environment can be used for IT-based ecological education and assessment research across the spectrum of formal to informal education settings (e.g., classrooms, museums/botanical gardens, and by registered web users from the general public). Of special importance, this cross-cultural collaborative effort will enable studies of the impact of culture on IT-based ecological education.
Key words: IT-based ecological education, virtual learning environment, assessment research