Plant Identification in the 21st Century—What Possibilities Do Modern Identification Keys Offer for Biology Lessons?

Finger, Alexander; Gross, Jorge Luiz; Zabel, Jörg

doi:10.3390/educsci12120849

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Mobile applications have been found to increase motivation to complete species identification tasks [72,83]. This is also true for applications that do not contain automated image recognition, but only a digital version of a scientific key that appears to be more user-friendly than turning pages in a book [84,85]. In general, students in higher education found the use of a citizen science-based mobile application to support species identification motivating [30,51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Citizen Science Apps in a Higher Education Botany Course: Data Quality and Learning Effects

Pernat,

Gathof,

Herrmann

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Although species identification apps are becoming increasingly popular in citizen science, they are hardly used in university courses on biodiversity literacy. In this study, we investigated whether the use of a plant identification app by students provides similar data quality to the use of scientific keys and whether it improves the process of knowledge acquisition. To this end, dry grassland plots were monitored in Berlin to record plant species diversity by two groups, Bachelor’s and Master’s students, with different experience in plant identification. Both groups were asked to survey the plots once in April and once in June, the first time with the app Pl@ntNet, and the second time with scientific keys commonly used in teaching. To evaluate their performance and the respective tools, the results were compared with those of experts from the same plots. The students identified, on average, only half of the plants per plot and misidentified or failed to identify a high proportion of species compared with the experts, regardless of the identification tool. In addition, the number of plants identified that did not occur at all in the region or in the considered habitat was alarmingly high. In view of the worldwide loss of species knowledge, it is becoming clear that apps can trigger the study of a species group, but do not solve the fundamental problem of neglecting biodiversity courses at universities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Citizen Science Apps in a Higher Education Botany Course: Data Quality and Learning Effects

Pernat,

Gathof,

Herrmann

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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show abstract

“…Again, the introduction of mobile application has made it easier to identify trees without the need for a specialist or a professional botanist (Mäder et al, 2021). Hence, numerous applications and strategies for plant identification have been created recently in response to this need (Finger et al, 2022). These applications range from those that rely on automatic image recognition (artificial intelligence) to those that require the user to use classic dichotomous keys or multi-access keys and those that only supply a collection of pictures with no obvious method for identifying the species (Jones, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis of the Accuracy of Thirteen Photo-based Applications in the Identification of Trees Species in Northern Ghana

2023

IJFMR

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Photo-based tree identification applications have gained prominence for their convenience and speed of identifying tree species. However, the accuracy of these applications remains a critical concern. This study assessed the accuracy of thirteen photo-based tree identification applications in the identification of twenty-two tree species in the savannah ecological zone of Ghana using their leaf samples. Three photographs were taken from well-developed and diseased-free leaves from each tree, in their natural environment, using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 phone with inbuilt camera. The photographs were uploaded into the respective Applications’ platforms for processing and identification. This study used 858 photographs, from 22 plant species using 13 photo-based applications. The number of times an application was able to identify the species were recorded and analysed using Microsoft Excel. The results showed that mean identification accuracy was 65.03%. Seven of the applications were able to identify the tree species up to 72.73 - 95.45% accuracy. The remaining eight had an accuracy range of 9.90 -50.09%. LeafSnap, PlantNet and PlantID had the same and the highest accuracy rate of 95.45% corresponding to 21 of the plant species identified. These were closely followed by Plant ID, PictureThis, Google Lens and Nature ID with accuracy rates of 86.36%, 81.81%, 77.27% and 72.73%, respectively. Plant-X had the least accuracy of 9.09%. The study recommended applications with identification accuracy above 70% for used in identifying species in the Savanna Zone of Ghana. The results of this study have significant implications for the identification and management of tree species as non-taxonomists, non-botanists and non-naturalists will be able to work effectively. Further studies, consideration up to the family level, are needed to further improve the accuracy of these applications. The study also recommends the inclusion of other plant organs such as the fruits, flowers and bark in future research works. It is also recommended that other Photo-based tree identification applications be studied, and the results compared with findings of this study to assist select the best applications for identifying trees in the Savanna Zone of Northern Ghana.

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“…Some research has been done already on the impact of teaching with digital identification keys: it promotes students' positive opinion about plants (Andic et al, 2022), brings enjoyment and learning about individual characteristics of plants compared to paper-based dichotomous identification keys (Finger et al, 2022). In this project although the students will create a digital identification app themselves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An app by students for students – the DPaCK-model for a digital collaborative teamwork project to identify butterflies

2023

Self Cite

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Acquiring digital literacy has become one of the most important tasks in school. But also acquiring species knowledge is an important task and essential to understand the value of biodiversity. In order to achieve this, a toolbox was developed to enable students to create an identification key on any group of living species. This can be either a species group of animals or plants or living creatures of the school ground. It is based on the interactive identification tool “ID-Logics” which was changed into an easy-to-use learning platform for the students. The students (n = 26, age 11–13, Gymnasium) were interviewed using the method of Retrospective Inquiry into Learning Process to capture changes in imagination. The results were analyzed and discussed using the DPaCK-Model. Based on the data, we can demonstrate the utility of the DPaCK-Model and discuss the implications for (biology) teaching. The DPaCK-Model proves to be a useful tool for analyzing this student project from the subject didactic perspective. Compared to the TPaCK-Model, digitality brings up new aspects, which we discuss in terms of the implications for (biology) teaching. In summary, the focus of the ID-Nature project is on: Collaboration, cooperation, and participation combined with publication, sharpening the eye for characteristic items for identification. And this is the new challenge of digitality. The orientation framework for the acquisition of digital competences developed for teacher education should also be seen as an enrichment for students. In accordance with these results, guidelines were set up for teaching digital literacy. The project is furthermore seen as an example for Education for sustainable Development (ESD).

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Plant Identification in the 21st Century—What Possibilities Do Modern Identification Keys Offer for Biology Lessons?

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

Citizen Science Apps in a Higher Education Botany Course: Data Quality and Learning Effects

Citizen Science Apps in a Higher Education Botany Course: Data Quality and Learning Effects

Comparative Analysis of the Accuracy of Thirteen Photo-based Applications in the Identification of Trees Species in Northern Ghana

An app by students for students – the DPaCK-model for a digital collaborative teamwork project to identify butterflies

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