Coral Reef Education in Hawaii

Abstract

Coral reefs are vital ecosystems not only to the marine animals that inhabit them, but to other organisms including humans. The importance of coral reefs as well as their decline worldwide is well documented, with human activities cited as the major causes of decline. The purpose of this instructional design project is to create a web-based instructional module on Hawaii’s coral reef ecology and conservation to educate visitors and promote contribution to conservation. The website created includes videos and text-based information about the importance, decline and what people can do to help conserve coral reefs. Twenty-eight participants completed the module. Data analysis showed that the module did not contribute to any major changes in knowledge; majority of the participants had previous knowledge about coral reef conservation, as there were high correct responses in the pre-test questionnaire also reflected in the post-test. Based on this study, future studies would include participants who are more likely to not have previous knowledge, such as international students, high school students or a random sample of tourists visiting the State of Hawaii.