Challenges and opportunities of using virtual laboratory in teaching biodiversity and classification

Despite a fact that using real biological specimens in teaching and learning biodiversity and classification can enhance student’s learning competencies, the biophilia issues emphasizing on student’s attitude to respect the non-human organism should become a challenge to be addressed. Virtual laboratory may provide solutions answering the problems of both, contextuality and biophilia issues in teaching and learning biodiversity and classification. However, appropriate taxonomic concepts and principles are still needed to develop a competence-based virtual laboratory media. This paper aims to analyze challenges and opportunities in developing virtual laboratory in addressing those the two aforementioned issues. Both opportunities and challenges of using virtual laboratory are scrutinized in a context of the important concepts and principles in biodiversity classification and taxonomy. From the perspective of non-anthropocentrism, one of the important affective learning outcomes of teaching and learning biodiversity and classification is building student’s habit to respects to the non-human organism. Therefore, using real biological specimens should be minimized because of its ability in breaking this habit breaking this sensitivity. The problem of contextuality and learning outcome achievement then is challenged. Virtual laboratory may bear opportunities in addressing the problems of contextuality and learning outcome achievement. The virtual laboratory should be systematically designed and structured to assist a ‘step by step’ understanding of the important concepts and principles in biodiversity and classification. A precise 3D taxonomic artificial specimens and model may still be required to complement the virtual laboratory media and altering the contextuality of using the real biological specimens.Despite a fact that using real biological specimens in teaching and learning biodiversity and classification can enhance student’s learning competencies, the biophilia issues emphasizing on student’s attitude to respect the non-human organism should become a challenge to be addressed. Virtual laboratory may provide solutions answering the problems of both, contextuality and biophilia issues in teaching and learning biodiversity and classification. However, appropriate taxonomic concepts and principles are still needed to develop a competence-based virtual laboratory media. This paper aims to analyze challenges and opportunities in developing virtual laboratory in addressing those the two aforementioned issues. Both opportunities and challenges of using virtual laboratory are scrutinized in a context of the important concepts and principles in biodiversity classification and taxonomy. From the perspective of non-anthropocentrism, one of the important affective learning outcomes of teaching and learning bio...