TITLE:
Using Ecological Modeling to Enhance Instruction in Population Dynamics and to Stimulate Scientific Thinking
AUTHORS:
Hiraldo Serra, Wesley Augusto Conde Godoy
KEYWORDS:
Population Dynamics, Education, Alternative Methodology, Experimental Design, Mathematical Models
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.2 No.2,
June
27,
2011
ABSTRACT: Population dynamics has commonly been explored in high-school and undergraduate-level courses in ecology. The techniques used for teaching population dynamics can provide students with the required basic information for learning fundamental concepts in population ecology. However, population dynamics is a complex branch of population ecology that has an essentially quantitative nature. The effective assimilation of this topic should consider basic aspects of population theory, which involves the conceptual understanding of mathematical models. In this study, we propose an alternative methodology for teaching basic concepts of population ecology at the high-school and undergraduate levels, using mathematical models and numerical simulations on a microcomputer. We also show how an instructor or researcher can combine experimentation and theoretical ecology to produce simulations based on the ecology and biology of organisms. The study also suggests a way for teachers and professors to analyze population patterns with real data.