The Virtual Field Station (VFS): using a virtual reality environment for ecological fieldwork in A‐Level biological studies—Case Study 3

Abstract

Case studies are one way of producing the evidential base necessary for ICT to become embedded in everyday teaching and learning. Such case studies are vital for the purposes of generalisation. Also, teacher generated case-studies have the benefit of being research that is done by teachers in conjunction with Higher Education support and mediation, as opposed to research being done to teachers by Higher Education. One such teacher-generated case study at the cutting edge of ICT researches the effectiveness of a Virtual Field Station for the teaching of an A Level biology topic. The subject was the exotic one of the Mediterranean sea turtle. Student fieldwork involving these fascinating creatures is desirable but difficult, as the sea turtle's habitat is the archipelago of the Aegean Sea. The paper argues that a Virtual Field Centre is an effective substitute for actuality in terms of the development of student knowledge and understanding for examination purposes. As such, it is an innovative development that sits at the forefront of an area of Science Education that is rapidly developing, ie ICT-mediated teaching and learning.

Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual field tours in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education

“…Hirsch and Lloyd, 2005). Finally, VFTs can provide opportunity for some sort of "field" experience where this would not otherwise be possible, for example due to large student numbers, financial constraints, logistics, or distance from intended field site (Poland et al, 2003;Turney et al, 2004). This paper evaluates the redesign of a fieldwork-based geographic skills module taught at first year undergraduate level in the UK.…”

Virtual Reality in Biology: Can We Become Virtual Naturalists?

“…While VMR in education has gained exponential attention of the academic community, VMR in biology has advanced at a slower pace, comprising ~ 5% of academic publications in the field (Fig 1a). Nonetheless, VMR has gained important applications in both secondary and tertiary education biology courses [13,[19][20][21]. A number of VMR applications attempt to reproduce the laboratory environment to students with otherwise no access to laboratory facilities, with demonstrated benefits over traditional lectures [see e.g., Labster [22]].…”

Virtual Reality in Biology: Can We Become Virtual Naturalists?

“…VMR has been used in both secondary and tertiary education biology courses [13,[19][20][21]. A number of VMR applications attempt to reproduce the laboratory environment to students with otherwise no access to laboratory facilities, with demonstrated benefits over traditional lectures [see e.g., Labster [22]].…”