6533b831fe1ef96bd1298696

RESEARCH PRODUCT

An exploratory case study of interactive simulation for teaching Ecology

Solene TaiksiAmir HussainSavi MaharajTim PaineOmair Z. Ameerbakhsh

subject

Higher educationinteractive computer simulationEcologyComputer scienceNetLogobusiness.industryE-learning (theory)Ecology (disciplines)05 social sciences050209 industrial relations050301 educationE-learningcase studyInteractive simulationHuman–computer interaction0502 economics and businessComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATIONecologybusiness0503 educationcomputercomputer.programming_language

description

This paper explores the effectiveness of interactive simulation for teaching a selected complex subject, Ecology, in higher education. Specifically, we carry out a lab intervention using interactive agent based simulation, to teach the complex concept of spatially-explicit predator prey interaction to undergraduate students of an advanced module: BIOU9CE (Community Ecology & Conservation Applications) at the University of Stirling. We propose use of Netlogo, an interactive agent-based simulation tool, and evaluate its effectiveness for learning and teaching of interactive simulation developed specifically for the classroom, compared with an existing, less interactive, simulation tool (R).

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-12-012016 15th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET)
https://doi.org/10.1109/ithet.2016.7760725