Abstract
Satellite images have great educational potential for teaching on environmental issues and can promote the motivation of young people to enter careers in natural science and technology. Due to the importance and ubiquity of remote sensing in science, industry and the public, the use of satellite imagery has been included into many school curricular in Germany. However, its implementation into school practice is still hesitant, mainly due to lack of teachers’ know-how and education materials that align with the curricula. In the project “Space<i>4</i>Geography” a web-based learning platform is developed with the aim to facilitate the application of satellite imagery in secondary school teaching and to foster effective student learning experiences in geography and other related subjects in an interdisciplinary way. The platform features ten learning modules demonstrating the exemplary application of original high spatial resolution remote sensing data (RapidEye and TerraSAR-X) to examine current environmental issues such as droughts, deforestation and urban sprawl. In this way, students will be introduced into the versatile applications of spaceborne earth observation and geospatial technologies. The integrated web-based remote sensing software “BLIF” equips the students with a toolset to explore, process and analyze the satellite images, thereby fostering the competence of students to work on geographical and environmental questions without requiring prior knowledge of remote sensing. This contribution presents the educational concept of the learning environment and its realization by the example of the learning module “Deforestation of the rainforest in Brasil”.
Highlights
Satellite images can stimulate the students’ motivation, improve their understanding of Earth system processes and convey geospatial thinking and technical skills
The core element of each learning module is the analysis of satellite images which are implemented at several points to impart knowledge about the topic
The practical realization of the educational concept is presented by the example of the learning module “Deforestation of the rainforest in Brasil” which is designed for the application in geography classes or related subjects at the grade levels seven and eight
Summary
Satellite images can stimulate the students’ motivation, improve their understanding of Earth system processes and convey geospatial thinking and technical skills. Empirical studies show the high interest, learning efficacy and motivation of students when analysing satellite images (Ditter 2013; Siegmund 2010). Most often the application in school lessons only comprises the visual analysis of true colour images, not exploiting the full potential of satellite images. Reasons for this gap are the complexity of remote sensing and its applications as well as the lack of expert knowledge of teachers (Ditter et al 2012). The platform’s development is scientifically accompanied by two dissertation projects, focusing on the identification of general design principles for the platform and the evaluation of different implementations of adaptive learning regarding
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