Abstract According to the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, today’s biology graduates lack the key species identification skills required by prospective employees. This mismatch between students’ skills and employers’ requirements has serious implications for employability after graduation. Interactive species identification apps on mobile learning devices, such as iPads, have the potential to encourage active engagement with the process of identification and provide a means for students to (re)connect with nature. A pilot study funded by a Keele University teaching innovation grant and School of Life Sciences teaching equipment grant investigated the potential of iPad educational apps to boost species identification skills. Working in pairs, twelve final year undergraduate students were given one hour to locate eight target trees on the Keele campus using the Here&Near app and then utilise four tree species ID apps (FSC trees, ForestXplorer, LeafsnapHD and Isoperla’s TreeID) to identify the tree species. The students completed pre- and post-activity evaluation questionnaires and produced a post-activity reflective audio commentary using Fotobabble. The pre-study questionnaire revealed that 92% of students thought tree ID apps would aid identification skills, while only 50% of students agreed that iPads would facilitate collaboration. The post-study evaluation revealed that not all tree apps were equally useful in learning, along with a transformation of student opinion regarding the collaborative aspect of the activity. The second phase of the study is to embed a modified version of the tree tour into a first year undergraduate practical, and evaluate how this affects the ability to correctly identify trees on the lab exam. The preliminary results from this study indicate that a group-orientated collaborative problem-solving approach encouraged communication and development of skills based on all their senses (visual, verbal, etc.).

1. iPads as collaborative tools to
enhance biological identification
skills in the lab and field
Dr Sarah L. Taylor* & Ms Trish Procter
*s.l.taylor@keele.ac.uk
Funded by the Keele University Teaching Innovation Projects Scheme

2. Talk contents
Study
design
Critical
incidents
Innovation
project
Pilot
results
Where to
next?
The
problem…

3. The problem…
For a whole
generation of today’s
children, the pleasures
of a free-range
childhood are missing

4. The problem…
Prolific integration of technology into our
lives means we are losing the ability to
use all of our senses

5. The problem…
Traditional paper-
based taxonomic ID
keys are difficult to use
May & Panter (2000) Field Studies 9, 711-764.

6. The problem…
http://www.bshs.org.uk/closure-of-university-of-birmingham-biological-recording-courses-e-petition
Academic institutions have stepped away
from traditional taxonomic courses

7. The problem…
UK parliamentary assessment:
• “There are no lichen taxonomists left in British
universities" (British Lichen Society, p208)
• “Near-elimination of taxonomists from the
university sector in the UK" (Systematics
Association, p112)
• “Whole set of skills and expertise to maintain the
international standards for identification is
disappearing rapidly from the UK" (Research
Councils UK, p39)
Source: House of Lords Science and Technology Fifth Report (2008), Chapter 3.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldsctech/162/16206.htm

8. The problem…
“Ecological consultants
… are really struggling
for properly qualified
people with taxonomic
identification skills”
(Professor Richard
Gornall, President of
the BSBI, Q175)

9. The problem…
“National decline in species ID skills at a
time when it has never been more
important to protect the nation’s
biodiversity and sustainability of
ecosystems” (IEEM, 2011)
E.g., “1 in 8 of world’s birds are globally
threatened with extinction” (Birdlife, 2013)

10. Innovation project
12 month project:
• Funded by innovation grant to “improve
student learning experience and foster
student engagement”
• Supported by a School equipment bid
– 12 iPads
– MacBook Pro to manage the iPads in Apple
Configurator

11. Innovation project
AIM: Investigate the potential of a
collaborative iPad-based problem-solving
activity to enhance tree ID skills
Objectives:
1. Develop a guided tree tour
2. Critique suitability of tree ID apps
3. Evaluate impact of activity on student learning

12. Innovation project
Selling points of the study:
• Mobile learning devices offer the
opportunity to engage today’s students
in the process of species ID in ways
previously out of reach in a field setting
• Mobile learning devices can be used as
a means of bridging the communication
gap to help students work
collaboratively

13. Study design
Semester 1 pilot study:
• Voluntary 3-hour workshop
– Students given 1-hour to complete ID task
– Pre and post-evaluation questionnaires,
reflective diaries
• Engagement encouraged by
– Pizza, certificate, £10 Amazon voucher!!
Semester 2 test study:
• Embed activity into labs of Year 1 module

14. Study design
Guided tree tour
• Here&Near iPhone app
• Required to find 8 trees

15. Study design
Four Tree ID apps:
• FSC Trees
– Field Studies Council
(free)
• ForestXplorer
– Forestry Commission
(free)
• LeafsnapHD
– Columbia University,
University of Maryland &
Smithsonian Institute
(free)
• TreeID – The British Tree
ID Guide
– Isoperla Ltd (£2.49)
Screen shot of FSC app

16. Study design
Evaluation and feedback:
• Fotobabble (free)
• Quickoffice Quickoffice (free)
• Video camera (inbuilt) (free)

17. Pilot results
Pre-conceptions (questionnaire):
• 42% of students had used learning device in
university education setting
– 8% in school , 8% in college
• 92% of students thought tree ID apps would “aid
identification skills”
0
20
40
60
80
iPod iPad iPhone Android Other
%students
What learning device do
you own?

18. Pilot results
First 3 minutes:
• Video of me giving
instructions posted to
YouTube (without my
consent)
• One student “broke
iPad”
• Screen displays
changed to
photographs of
themselves
“Was like being at kindergarten”

19. Pilot results
Self-documentation of activity

20. Pilot results
Self-documentation of activity
Students made notes in
Here&Near app about
ID process and ease of
finding the trees, etc.

21. Pilot results
Which tree app?
• Leafsnap HD “did not aid learning”
• General consensus that “no app alone could
cope with the range of targeted tree species”
%studentstoprated
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Top rated tree app

22. Pilot results
TreeID “was worth the £2.49 charge”

23. Do iPads facilitate collaboration?
• One third increased rating after event
iPads facilitate collaboration
neutral-neutral
agree-agree
disagree-neutral
disagree-agree
neutral-agree
Responses(%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Pilot results
Increase in post-
workshop rating
No change

24. Pilot results
Reflective diaries:
• “it *collaboration+
showed me that there is
disagreement in certain
plant identifications”
• Collaborative approach
made students feel
“safe to fail”
Fotobabble screenshot

25. Critical incidents
Pilot study:
• Hampered by patchy
nature of the outdoor
wifi signal
– Reduced GPS accuracy
– Hard to locate tree
– Prevented access to
ForestXplorer app
Wifi coverage

26. Critical incidents
Test study:
• Applebook Pro committed
suicide 7 days before
workshop
– Had to be returned to AppleCare
to be reconfigured
– Lost Apple Configurator settings
• Had to cancel activity as no
means of managing iPads

27. Where to next?
• Test study has been postponed to 2014-15
module run
• Pilot study report will be submitted for MA
module “Learning and Teaching with
Technology”
• Develop Here&Near app education tours in
other parts of the Biology programme
– Habitat surveys in LSC-30043 Conservation
Biology
– Lichen churchyard surveys in LSC-20002
Symbiosis

28. Where to next?
• The fundamental issues holding back
use of iPads in teaching is
– Reliability of technology
– Challenges of using a device designed for
individual use in a group setting
– Ease of management of system (Apple
Configurator is evil)

29. Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the following final year
undergraduate students who gave up their
spare time to participate on the pilot study
workshop: Amy collier, Davy Falkner, Holly
Farrington, Abi Gazzard, Kristen Hirsh-
Pearson, Katie Marsh, Kenroy Millwood, Alex
Melson, Max Reboul, Ben Salt, Richard
Sant, and Nathan Wisniewski. Finally, thanks to
Craig Armstrong and Yassir Rashid in
Computing Services for their technical
assistance in the mysterious workings of Apple
Configurator.