An exploratory case study of interactive simulation for teaching Ecology

Ameerbakhsh, Omair; Maharaj, Savi; Hussain, Amir; Paine, Tim; Taiksi, Sol�ne

Abstract

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).

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (Published)
• Conference Name: 2016 15th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET)
• Start Date: Sep 8, 2016
• End Date: Sep 10, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 7, 2019
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Book Title: 2016 15th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ITHET.2016.7760725
• Keywords: E-learning, interactive computer simulation, ecology, case study
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1792636