The high school science syllabus has an increased focus on the development of knowledge and skills relevant to the practice of science and teachers grapple with introducing more abstract topics, such as complexity and systems thinking (Boersma et al 2011). While there are many initiatives to take technology and science practice into schools (Grotzer et al 2013), students may focus on memorising facts, finding ‘right’ answers and following prescribed procedures rather than designing their own investigations. We designed a teaching program incorporating a virtual world (Omosa), and a modelling program (Netlogo) for use in middle school science classrooms. Students explored ecological systems, interacted with field ecologist ‘avatars’, collected field data, and learned to ‘think like scientists’ (Hounsell and McCune 2007). This study documented the variation in students’ understanding of ecological concepts, hypothesis testing, interpretation of data and understanding of complex ecological systems (Morin et al 2013).
The methodology used an analysis of 150 matched responses testing knowledge through pre- and post- surveys, and changes in understanding of complexity through pre- and post-Concept Maps. In addition we analysed student posters and collected video recordings of their interviews with research ecologists, where pairs of students demonstrated their collection and interpretation of data.
Results/Conclusions
The analysis of pre-post surveys demonstrated that students have a good understanding of fundamental concepts in the syllabus such as interactions, populations, and impacts of fire and drought. However their concept maps showed that many students struggled with a conceptual understanding of the ‘big picture’, where such concepts interact in a larger scale context of ecosystem dynamics and human impacts. The posters and presentations highlighted distinct variations in students’ ability to articulate their understanding of the challenges of conflicting data, with many choosing to ignore it. Those students who demonstrated more sophisticated understanding were able to create better links between their choice of evidence to address multiple solutions and their presentation of appropriate recommendations to solve problems in the field.
We discuss these findings in the context of supporting students to work at the ‘big picture’ level in ecology learning, and providing more opportunities in classrooms for generating and interpreting more complex datasets.