Development And Research Of A Virtual Ecological Pond For Science Education

• Main Author: 呂念穎
• Other Authors: Wernhuar Tarng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/28706394163897122969

碩士 === 國立新竹教育大學 === 數位學習科技研究所 === 102 === The campus ecological pond is an effective tool to assist science teaching since it allows students to obtain knowledge of aquatic biology in freshwater environments by practical observation. According to the investigation of ecological resources used in science education in Taiwan, 63.3% of elementary schools in Taiwan had ecological ponds and more than 60% of them used the ecological ponds for educational purposes. However, an ecological pond requires dedicated personnel for maintenance to ensure the sustainability. Otherwise, the ecological pond may turn into a dirty pond filled with weeds and its ecological cycle may be destroyed by invasive or strong species. In this study, a virtual campus ecological pond was developed for applications in science education in elementary schools.The system integrates real ecological situations of aquatic environments into learning activities to enhance the learning interest and motivation of students. They can observe the features of aquatic plants and aquatic animals on mobile devices. According to the experimental results, the learning effectiveness of using the virtual ecological pond is higher than that of using the real ecological pond and the traditional teaching method. The questionnaire survey also reveals a better result by the virtual ecological pond than using the other two methods.The virtual ecological pond can save the cost and manpower needed for building and maintaining a real ecological pond, and it can also solve the problems of insufficient species and difficulty to observe under water. Thus, it is a useful assistant tool for teaching aquatic ecology in elementary schools.