Meeting Abstract

P3-51    Looking at the ocean through a different lens: Using virtual reality and citizen science to engage elementary students in marine education. Smith, KL*; Sims, RS; Geray, CI; Childress, MJ; Clemson University; Clemson University; Clemson University; Clemson University kellie9@g.clemson.edu

Climate change and its impact on ocean ecosystems, such as coral reefs, have traditionally been lacking in elementary education. Barriers to engaging children directly in the ocean environment are hindered by logistics of money, time, resources, and geography. More concerning is the lack of meaningful scientific integration with students into these environments. Our program seeks to immerse elementary students directly into the ecology of coral reef ecosystems through a citizen science project in a virtual reality (VR) environment. We hypothesize that elementary students who engage in coral reef citizen science data collection will experience a higher desire to employ ocean conservation strategies, enhance their knowledge of ocean literacy, and increase their self-efficacy towards pursuing science. Elementary students in third through fifth grades throughout South Carolina will be randomly assigned to a citizen science and non-citizen science group. All students will be given worksheets at the beginning and end of the lesson consisting of demographic questions, a draw-a-scientist prompt, and a personal meaning map. Students in both groups will be given an introductory lecture on ocean health, coral reef ecosystems, and fish behavior before donning VR headsets. Once in the virtual environment, students in the citizen science group will conduct counts on submissive fish behaviors using hand clickers, counted, and plotted throughout the experience; non-citizen science students will simply be told to observe and enjoy the video. After the experience, students in the citizen science group will be shown graphically how their data contributed to the research project. Broad impacts for this study can show the importance of integrative, experiential learning and data ownership on student attitudes towards new, divisive concepts.