Secondary Education Ecology Module on the Near Shore Marine Environment

Abstract

Abstract. Ecology is an increasingly important component in the marine science field of education. The Islands of Hawaii host a very fragile marine ecosystem that is under constant threat from anthropogenic interaction and natural events. Including ecology education in the marine science class to students in Hawaii’s secondary education system may be a logical approach to addressing these issues. Because of limited classroom time and resources, ecology is often not included in the curriculum. By integrating educational technologies, science teachers may be able to provide an ecology program of study to their students. This could reach both inside of the traditional classroom and, to a wider range, outside in the form of self study and homework. This research evaluated the effectiveness of online tools to teach an ecology class. Web based ecology material was provided to the participants for reference. Instruction for designing a slide sharing program in the online program Slideboom was also supplied. The participating science teachers were tasked to develop an online slide share program that included images, text and audio and share it with their students. They were then to observe and evaluate the impact of this instruction on their students. At question was, would the participating science teachers be able to employ educational technologies and realize the benefit of supplementing the traditional hands on lab with instruction and expectations using these technology tools in their particular classes? Attitudinal survey questions provided feedback on the effectiveness of this venue from the perspective of the participants. Results of the study indicated that a substantial majority of the participants realized beneficial results with the educational technology tools in the science classroom. In addition, some participants also sought information and access to peripheral educational technology tools used in the study.