Creating and Implementing a Biodiversity Recording App for Teaching and Research in Environmental Studies

Authors

  • Elizabeth White The University of Reading
  • Liam Basford The University of Reading
  • Stephen Birch The University of Reading
  • Alison Black The University of Reading
  • Alastair Culham The University of Reading
  • Hazel J McGoff The University of Reading
  • Karsten O Lundqvist The University of Reading
  • Philippa Oppenheimer The University of Reading
  • Jonathan Tanner The University of Reading
  • Mark Wells The University of Reading
  • Alice L Mauchline The University of Reading

Keywords:

campus, biodiversity, ecology, learning, citizen science, Higher Education

Abstract

This case study reports on the development of a bespoke mobile recording app for collating records of biodiversity sightings on a University campus. This innovative project was achieved through a multi-disciplinary partnership of staff and students. It is hoped that the app itself will benefit lecturers by streamlining data collection during teaching and learning activities, whilst engaging students and highlighting the wealth of diversity available on campus

References

Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H. and Wenderoth, M.P. (2014) ‘Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering and mathematics.’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, 8410-8415.

Gardiner, M.M., Allee, L.L., Brown, P.M.J., Losey, J.E., Roy, H.E. and Smyth, R.R. (2012) ‘Lessons from lady beetles: accuracy of monitoring data from US and UK citizen-science programs.’ Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(9), 471-476.

Hargis, J., Cavanaugh, C., Kamali and T., Soto, M. (2014) ‘A federal higher education iPad mobile learning initiative: Triangulation of data to determine early effectiveness.’ Innovative Higher Education, 39(1), 45-57.

Herrington A. and Herrington J. (2007) ‘Authentic mobile learning in higher education.’ In: AARE. International Educational Research Conference, 28 November 2007. Fremantle, Western Australia: AARE.

Rossing, J.P., Miller, W.M., Cecil, A.K. and Stamper, S.E. (2012) ‘iLearning: the future of higher education? Student perceptions on learning with mobile tablets.’ Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12(2), 1-26.

University of Reading (2014) ‘The university and the environment.’ Reading: University of Reading. Available from: http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/about-environment.aspx (Accessed: 19 August 2014).

Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change

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Published

03/09/2015

How to Cite

White, E., Basford, L., Birch, S., Black, A., Culham, A., McGoff, H. J., Lundqvist, K. O., Oppenheimer, P., Tanner, J., Wells, M., & Mauchline, A. L. (2015). Creating and Implementing a Biodiversity Recording App for Teaching and Research in Environmental Studies. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 1(1). Retrieved from https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/166

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2015)

Section

Case Study

License

Copyright is held by the journal. The author has full permission to publish to their institutional repository. Articles are published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence.